Robinson Woods
Alexander Robinson was the English name of Potawatomi chief Chee-chee-pin-quay, born in 1787 to a Chippewa woman and Scottish trader. As a young man, Robinson settled on the banks of the Chicago river as a fur trader. In the midst of the Battle of Fort Dearborn (more commonly known as the Fort Dearborn Massacre) during the War of 1812, Robinson and Billy Caldwell, a British-Potawatomi fur trader, protected several white settlers, including Robinson’s then-neighbor, John Kinzie. Robinson and Caldwell then evacuated the settlers by canoe to St. Joseph, Michigan, a distance of nearly one hundred miles from Chicago via the Lake Michigan shoreline. After the War of 1812, Robinson played a key role as an intermediary and peacekeeper between the Potawatomi and white settlers.
In 1829, in gratitude for his service, Robinson was granted a 1,600 acre tract of land directly west of Chicago on the Des Plaines River. Presently, this land includes Robinson Woods, a forest preserve maintained by Cook County. Robinson lived on the reservation until his death in 1872, and his descendants continued to live on the land until a fire destroyed the original homestead in early 1955. A large stone marks the final resting place of Robinson and his family; it is one of only…
