Chicago History for Kids: Triumphs and Tragedies of the Windy City Includes 21 Activities

Chicago History for Kids: Triumphs and Tragedies of the Windy City Includes 21 Activities — page 5
INTRODUCTION MAGINE YOU COULD transport yourself back in time more than 300 years to the year 1673 Now pretend that you were standing at the cen ter of what would eventually become modern day Chicago What would you see Well first of all you'd probably be ankle deep in water Back then the future site of Chicago was mostly low lying marsh land that often flooded in the spring This drawing shows what Chicago may have looked like in the early 1780s HISTORY OF CHICAGO A T ANDREAS COMPANY 1884 86 In summer you would see tall grass prairies dotted with colorful wildflowers You would see beavers foxes wolves deer rodents and frogs But you obvi ously wouldn't see the Sears Tower the Lincoln Park Zoo the Museum of Science and Industry or Wrigley Field In fact you probably wouldn't even see any other people Even though about three million people live within Chicago's boundaries today back then the mushy swampy soil may have provided a suitable