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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 23, 1902)
Streeter's Struggle for Chicago Real Estate "CAP" STREETER IN FRONT OP HIS SUMMER HEADQUARTERS. to watch the "Cap," who sat undisturbed under the ahadow of a growing war clou.l. He waa throned In a cane bottom rocking chair, on a mound before the courthouse, while email boys and reporters flocked about him. Cap'a forty men fingered their atara and revolvers, ordered the small boys about, talked of what they would do to the police, and one by one crawled under a barbwlre fence and faded away. Not until the next morning could the po lice complete their preparationa lor the first battle. In the north aide headquar ters, on Chicago avenue. Inspector Max Heldelmeler gathered 200 bluecoata and along toward noon these advanced to the attack. They moved In wagons and on foot, with "Maxle" at their head. Aa on the day before, "Cap" eat peacefully In his rocking chair before the court house unattended now save for the spectators, while a lake breeze toyed with his famous red whiskers. "Cap" waa read.ng a news paper and when he heard or If ha heard the advancing army cf bluecoata that, led 1 1 1 1 11 THE DEAD LINE AT STREKTERVILLE. Fikw are aware iui ww I gaged In a civil war today a war I L . 4 , a.hl.k linn. dreda of men have been engaged, forta have been captured, ahots exchanged and all the elementa of eomlc opera except the music provided. One of the states, to be sure, la not yet on the gov ernment maps, but It la struggling hard for recognition, and it la this struggle which haa led to the great war between the state of Illinois, through lta chief city of Chicago, and the independent district of Lake Michigan, better known aa "Cap" Streeter'a "deestric." The war of the re bellion was fought over "rights." So la the preaent war. "Do you know what them fellers claims T" Captain Streeter demanded one day of a reporter. "Lemme tell ye what they claims. They claims rlpalrin' rlghta, that's what they claims. "What la rlpalrin' rights? Lemme tell ye what they Is. Rlpalrin' righis la the rlghta to rl-pair yer shore where t'a wore off by the water. Don't gl'en ye no more right to fill In the lake an' own the flllin 'an It doea me to dig a hole In yer front yard an' own th' hole." And, acting on his belief In the correct ness of that atatement. Captain Streeter haa aelzed 186 acres of the choicest landa In Chicago, lying along the lake front north of the river, and haa there organised the "Independent District of Lake Michigan." The leaders In Its government have applied to congress for recognition aa one of the sovereign atatea of the union, and mean while tbey are struggling by force of arma with the Chicago police for the life of their commonwealth. Thla strange affair la the direct fault of a well meaning and Induatrious surveyor named John Wall, who was aent by the Washington authorities In 1821 to survey the ground they were about to buy from the Indiana. A town Bite waa desired at the mouth of Chicago river, and Wall waa ordered to aurvey a atrip twenty miles along the lake ahore north from the Calu met river and running thence southwest erly. All would have been well had he bounded It on the east by the "waters of Lake Michigan," but Instead he "mean dered" the ahore line, aurveylng each little crook In It and describing In his maps and field book a definite number of miles and acres bounded on the eaat not by the lake, but by the meandered ahore line aa It then existed. When this land was put on the market Robert Kinsle bought the north half of fractional aection 10 of township 39, range 14 east of the third principal meridian, conaiating of 103.27 acres, defi nitely bounded. Outside of the shore line waa a sand bar, sometimes appearing above the water. That sandbar gradually grew, waa by fill ings connected by the shore, and aa Robert Klnxle'a holdings became divided up thoae who had them gradually came to look upon the "accreted" land a their own. They set up, for the rest of the city to worship at a fetich called "riparian rights," which gave them ownership of all land outside of their ahore line. But they were hin dered from giving title by an early gov eminent decision that they held only a definite number of acrea secured under the Kinxie grant, and which In . total could never exceed 103.27. Thla was the situation in 18S6, when Streeter first appeared. Thla George Wellington Streeter, mariner and fighter, is a doughty little man, full of "scrap" to the top of his head, red whiskered, decorated with frecklea that re semble blotches of red, equipped with end less argument, and always ready to take up the cudgel In any good cause In which he has a financial lntereat. Being a squat ter of experience he looked up the title to the lake front lands, saw It waa disput able, and In an old ateamer the Ruetan set out one evening In June, 1886, from the Calumet river, ostensibly for Milwaukee With him went Maria, hla wife. By aome Inexplicable chance the engine of the Ruetan became disabled when abe waa Just northeast of the filled land, and as the wind purely by good fortune waa northeasterly, the craft waa driven ashore and "Cap" and Maria were inglorlously cast up Just where tbey wanted to be. They hauled up their craft with the aid of a watchman, and next day built a stockade about It. Thus tbey squatted, and for aev aral years they defended thla stockade f " - ' 8. -v. . . ' - ' f if 5 . . , I "i ' i ft-- - . FORT HELD BT SIXTEEN MEN AGAINST TWO HUNDRED POLICEMEN. against all coiws liberal use of hot water from Maria's tea kettle. Once Bottled on the land Streeter promptly filed a homestead claim with the Washington authorities. He waa politely Informed that he waa squatting In ths water, being a quarter of a mile outside the shore line aurveyed by Wall. Nothing daunted, and satisfied that he could atand the water during the summer months, he secured aome unused Mexican war script and filed that on the land. Again he re ceived the reply that he waa obstructing navigation with hla house. 8o he wrote to the Washington authorities that he waa convinced that thla waa land, and dry land at that, and aa they had apparently over looked It, and aa all claims in this country date from the government, he therefore claimed this aa lta discoverer. Holty, toltyl There waa a terrible to do, to be eure! The shore owners began to cry loudly "riparian rights," and ordered the police to run Streeter off. They began atepa to get the land aurveyed and placed on the county map so they could pay taxes on It and establish a claim. They suc ceeded In ousting Streeter temporarily, made a deal with the Lincoln Park board and the state legislature, built a boulevard half a mile out In the lake and gave It to the state, filled In the pond back of It, dedicated the continued atreets, and were given by the atate title to the reclaimed lands. But Streeter waa before and after them, claiming that the atate never had the title to give, in thla twenty-mile atrip aurveyed by Wall. Then Streeter Bold and gave away enough of the lota to Interest capitalists and workers, and ahortly organised the Independent District of Lake Michigan. That la how we come to have one more aovereign body than most of us know about, and a civil war that has upset the peace of t imt half a doxen millionaire land own- era. For the filled landa of the "Deeetrlc" " are already worth at least $25,000,000. It waa on May S, 1889, that war waa de clared by the District agalnat Chicago. It waa a quiet day to begin with, but along toward noon aounds of war were heard growing loud In the distance. Over Rush street bridge In martial array came an army of forty men. Streeter at their head, with banner and drum, marching to seise their country. . Streeter'a red whiskers wagged, and his shiny silk bat nodded to acqualntancea along the way for he Is "Cap" to half Chicago and the aunllght glinted from enormous nickel plated atara on the bosoms of the army. They were aelf-constituted "United States marshals" tor the "Deestric," and ths bosoms behind the stars were filled with war sentiment. They went up Rush street to Ontario and out on to the filling, stuck a flagstaff in the ground, paated a sign on a abanty to serve aa a courthouse," Oeorge Wellington Streeter, Clerk;" labeled another ahanty "Capital," and ao completed the occupa tion. "Now, b-gosh, let them fellers come," said Streeter. "We'll show 'em now. b'gosh. We got th' United Statea on our aide, an' they ain't a-goln' to buck up agin th' govament. This ain't Illlny here, an' them fellers ain't got no rlghta In this Deestric. If an army of cops comes over here I'll arreat 'em, b'goeh." Crowds of north side citizens gathered their homes. He made hla headquarter on the parlor floor of a leading downtown hostelry and apparently waa well provided with funds a novel situation for the weather bureau squatter. Maria revelled In new bonnets of gorgeous construction and their affairs were prosperous. Inci dentally "Cap" roused up as the commander-in-chief of hla forcea one William HNUes, ex-cowboy, expert rifle and pistol shot and soldier of fortune, who waa alio constituted Justice cf the peace in the "deestric." General Niles planned well and secretly. In the still hours of a May night In 1900 he embarked an army of sixteen men, a case of Springfield and Winchester rifles, cart ridges and provisions, on the navy of the District an old fishing sloop, and trans ported them to the shore of the disputed land. There they landed, and when day light came they had conatructed two forts, sunk below the ground, with ramparts and roofs, and with a slit In each for firing through, commanding Superior street, and, tn fact, the whole district. The forts were t , .. . . ; -J ONE OF THE HOUSES BUILT IN STREETER DISTRICT. by "Maxle," atole aoftly through a bole In the fence and masaed before him, he made no sign. But the crowd waa visibly nerv ous, the bluecoata even more ao, and "Maxle" most of all. Suddenly stepping three pacea forward the inspector threw up hla right hand. All Chicago recognized the geature and shud dered. "Maxle" had taken the "Haymar ket" attitude, copying aa faithfully aa hla portly figure would allow the graceful bronze officer who guarda the acene of the anarchlat riots. When a Chicago police officer atrikes that attitude tue citizens know there Is "eometh'Qg doing." So they awaited the next more In breathless alienee. Each of the 200 bluecoata nervously fin gered hla pistol. At thla Instant, In a voice meant to be thunderoua, "Maxle" repeated the words graven at the foot of the atatue: , "In der name of der beeblea of Illinois, I gommanda beace." There waa no response from "Cap," who atlll read hla paper. "In der name of der beebfea of Illi nois, I gommand you to disperse." "Hold on thar," came from Streeter. "I caln't disperse. They ain't but one o' me. I'd do It If I could. Max, but I caln't." True enough, the army had abandoned lta leader and he had. not even a club for a weapon. The bluecoata looked relieved and drew nearer. "Veil, you got to go oud mid here." said the Inspector, relaxing hla attitude. "I won't go except by force," aald the captain, and ao he waa borne in hiss chair to a patrol wagon and then to the atatlon and booked for refuaal to disperse when ao ordered. Next day when the Justice read the charge he let "Cap" go, aa It waa man ifestly Impossible for him to have obeyed the order. So the first armed Invasion of the Inde pendent District of Lake Michigan by ths forcea of Illinois resulted In the tempo rary overthrow of the young republic and a victory for the atate. But It would not be according to the spirit of the American people to give In after a single defeat, and "Cap" la of long generations Ameri can. In the months that followed he grad ually organized an army, giving building lota to aoldlm who agreed to fight for backed by the lake and were protected by what appeared to be a Catling gun, but which was afterward found to be only a fence post on wheela. At dawn the 8tara and 8tripea were hoisted from a pole. Sen tries patrolled every approach. Then there was a stir on the part of the police, you may be aure. Streeter ' at hla hotel, was put under surveillance. . Emlssartea of the ahore ownera atirred up ' the corporation counsel, who atirred up the chief of police, who stirred up Heldelmeler, who stirred up the bluecoata, and out of all the atlr there waa an army organized. But with rifles and Oatllng guna and forts '' to meet there waa need of caution. Niles and hla aentrlea kept all-comers 1 away from their fort during the long morn ing hours. An iceman named Murphy tried to drive down the boulevard In a buggy, carrying a little girl for protection, but Nile clubbed him on the head and ha with drew. Then Captain Barney Baer of the boulevard police endeavored to drive past the forts and see how strong they were. When Niles halted him he turned and called for assistance from a crowd of plain clothes officers in the distance. One of them stepped forward, but with an Imperceptible motion Niles sent a bullet between hla feet, and the officer sidestepped about five . yarda. The reat scattered. Then as Baer advanced Niles put a bullet through the buggy close on each aide of blm, and held .the rifle at a ready, Baer, too, withdrew. With that the police left the field to Niles and went for relnforcementa. They gathered an army of 600 bluecoata at the Chicago avenue atatlon, armed several hundred of them with riflae and riot guna and pre pared to annihilate the alxteen men at the . Dlatrict forta. - The valiant Heldelmeler again took the lead, and again it waa now afternoon .tbey advanced to the attack, marching a mile to the "Deeatrtc ." The flreboat was ordered to the lake front to co-operate with them. Meanwhile Niles, having established hla occupation, aent all but five of hie follow ers away unobserved In the navy. With the balance he maintained the picket lines and held the city force at bay. About the time the police started on their march a boulevard "sparrow cop" strolled along the aea beach on his regular round toward the forts. Niles beckoned him over. "Say," said Niles, "we come here to prove we got a right to. We fired our guna and acared them fellers off. Now, we don't want to hurt nobody, so we'll Jos' surrender to you." And so, It happened that as the advanc ing 600 bluecoats came In sight, headed by (he valiant Heldelmeler, they beheld the Immortal Five, Niles at their head, march ing up Superior street in charge of a gray coated "sparrow cop." It was a bitter mo ment for the force. So the second Invasion waa ended. Of course, Niles and his band were tried. The plain clothes men testified that Nllea had Bred eleven shots In quick succession, but when they found his rifle was but a five shooter and had two cartrldgea still In It, they withdrew the evidence. And Niles and hia men were discharged from custody. That was the end of open hostilities be tween the state of Illinois and the dis trict, The "cap" had found armed resist anco a failure. "The beat way to fight them tellers," he said, "Is to git 'em on your Bide." Bo he began an Insidious attack on the city authorltlea, which haa reaulted In plao Ing him no one knowa exactly how high In the favor of certain aldermen and of ficials. With thla treaaonable assistance from the camp of the enemy he haa ob tained Chicago building permits and through his followers has erected several "houses" on the "deestric," which are oc cupied by thoae who have bought the land of him. All this has thrown the controversy where it belonged in the first place Into the courts. For the shore ownera, bringing suit for trespass against the captain who, having the aanctlon of the city, cannot be ousted by the police must show what title they have to the land. And that will bring up the question of the Wall aurvey and the ownership of this particular piece cf lake front and may take It away from both of them and give It to the atate or to a group of enterprising gentlemen who re cently bought title to the original sandbar from the living descendants of the Indians, who sold the rest of the land to the gov ernment. But until l( la settled the era of peace and good will within these United Statea will not have arrived and civil war will atlll be with ua. JOHN L. MATTHEWS. Well, Hardly A bright little business woman, who runa a small atore, had an experience with a cus tomer lately which broke her heart tempo rarily, of course. A gentleman called at her place, relatea the Louisville Times, and ordered a hat for his wife, who did not live here. He was shown everything in tbo store, and finally aelected a shape be wanted trimmed. He waa a Miss Nancylsh fellow; be looked over the trimmings, feathers, rib bons, laces, flowers, and made hla own choice. After giving the most minute di rections as to the trimming he walked off. In two days' time he came again to Inspect the hat and take It away. He aald it waa exactly right, the work had been well done, and then he moved off with the box contain ing It without one word about the price. The little milliner was In tears. It meant a lot to her, but when she got to thinking about suing him she recalled that abe did not know hla exact location and had no wit ness, and that a lawyer'a fee would cost more than the hat. When aha told her father of the trouble the old man got hot. "I'll pay him for It!" he aald. Indignantly. "Oh. no, father," aobbed tbe daughter, "what I want la not to pay him, but make him pay me." Well, hardly! Asking Too Much Chicago Post: "It la astonishing bow in considerate people can be!" "Wbat'e tbe matter nowT" "Why, an amateur dramatic club out our way la going to give an entertainment for charity." "And they want you to buy aome MckstsT" "Oh, it Isn't that. I waa glad to buy the tickets, but they want us to come and. alt through the show."