Life on Illinois' Last Frontier

Anna Elizabeth Carlson
Heritage School, Rockford

In the 1830s much of northern Illinois was wilderness. Ten years later the entire area was settled except for a few small prairies short of timber. Because of the Black Hawk War, people learned about the good land in the Rock River Valley. The first wave of settlers arrived in 1833. Over the next three years, the greatest land craze that the United States had ever seen occurred in the Rock River Valley. The story of Macktown captures this time.

Stephen Mack, a fur trader, had traveled in the Rock River Valley since the early 1820s. He was born in Poultney, Vermont, on February 20, 1798. When he left Moors Charity School, he joined his father, who owned a fur company called Mack and Conant.

While in the Green Bay area he met fur traders who told him of the Rock River Valley's potential for trading. He traded for several years near a Potawatomi village, which today is Grand Detour. In 1829 he married Hononegah, the Potawatomi chief's daughter, in a Native American ceremony.

Stephen Mack had the advantage of knowing the area. As settlers poured into the lands, he needed to make his claim. In 1835 he selected section 23 on a bluff above the Rock River, just below the mouth of the Pekatonica River. This was a natural crossroad. Here, he plotted his town of Pekatonica, which settlers later called Macktown. Mack acquired about a thousand acres. When Mack was told it was too hilly here he said, "It is far better than Milwaukee." Native Americans had used this site for ten thousand years.

Stephen Mack intentionally chose his claim for its position on the rivers. He wanted to make a river town, since travel by road was slow and difficult. At this time, Chicago and Galena were the two developed towns in northern Illinois. Lead from the mines in Galena took eleven days by wagon to reach Dixon's Ferry. Traveling by road was inefficient. For growth to occur, farmers had to deliver their grain and produce to Chicago, and the mines had to ship their lead. Mack judged the Rock River navigable for 150 miles and the Pekatonica River for 100 miles. The state of Illinois agreed, and in 1837 the Illinois General Assembly declared the Rock River navigable and directed that $100,000 be spent for improvements.

Stephen Mack built a double cabin, and in 1839 he constructed the largest frame house west of Chicago. Mack also established a store called a mercantile. He soon founded a school. Later, Mack built a second school with a large stone fireplace and chimney. Mack paid the teacher's salary. Mack's double cabin became a tavern for travelers. Records show that people were continually arriving.

Mack was a generous man. He allowed the settlers to borrow money from him to buy their lots. Between 1836 and 1845, he sold property to H.M. Bates, David Jewett, L.W. Osgood, Robert Gilmour, Darius Adams, Isaac Adams, and John Spafford. At the same time, he continued to purchase additional land. It is interesting to note that beside his signature for the sale of the lots was Hononegah's mark. Their joint ownership of land shows his respect for her, which was unusual for the time. Stephen Mack plotted his entire property, which covered all of section 23. Most early towns were never plotted this large. He felt his lots were a bargain. He created ten lots to a block instead of the usual twelve. He claimed that a corner lot by his store was worth a thousand dollars.

Pekatonica attracted numerous craftsmen, including a tailor, W.M. Halley. He sewed the latest fashions; however the residents of Pekatonica did not need these fashions. So the Talcott family paid him to stay. John Jewett was a blacksmith, and Thomas Farmer was a stone mason. Other craftsmen in Pekatonica were a saw miller, a wagon maker, a carpenter, a cabinetmaker, a boot maker, and a maker of holloware.

In 1837 Stephen Mack established a ferry that carried people across the Rock River. Because of the ferry, the main road north passed through Pekatonica. Between 1842 and 1843, Mack built a bridge to replace the ferry, largely with his own funds. It was the first bridge across the Rock River and had a draw of thirty-six feet to allow for steamboats. When the rival city of Rockford decided to build a bridge with state funds, Stephen Mack wrote to legislator Robert Cross. He argued that it was unjust for the state to build a bridge with public money when Illinois had refused to fund his structure.

On April 4, 1840, Mack made his first will for his nine children. Five months later, Hononegah and Stephen Mack were remarried in a Christian ceremony. This remarriage was to prevent confusion in his will.

In spite of being the first settlement in the Rock River frontier, Pekatonica failed. Its population peaked at about three hundred people. Stephen Mack placed M. E. Mack, his cousin, in charge of his store. However, the store lost two thousand dollars. It turned out that M.E. Mack was stealing money. When M.E. Mack died, Stephen Mack was responsible for his debts. Stephen Mack called in the sheriff, but nothing could be done.

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In 1836 General Chiopicki—a hero of the Polish War for Independence—claimed land in section 23 under the Polish Claim Act of 1834. This prevented secure title to property until an act of Congress in 1842.

Sadly, another cause of the town's failure was Mack's marriage to a Native American. When settlers arrived in Pekatonica and saw an Indian, they left. New settlers from the East did not want to live with Indians. William Talcott, the founder of Rockton across the Rock River from Pekatonica, had a son Thomas who kept a journal. In it, Thomas Talcott referred to Hononegah as "that squaw."

Stephen Mack was one of the first white settlers in the Rock River Valley. His town Pekatonica failed, but the region grew and prospered.—[From Edson J. Carr, The History of Rockton; Janice Schmang, Stephen Mack and the Early Settlement of Macktown and Rockton; Stephen Mack, Early Letter from Rockford and Winnebago County; Original Federal Land Survey Notes; Winnebago County Deeds.]

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