Late in 1833, Joseph Vial left Elmira, New York and made his way to Chicago by stage coach, steamboat, wagon, and foot. After exploring the countryside as far south as St. Louis, he returned and chose property on Plainfield Road in Lyons Township for the site of a 15 foot square log cabin. He paid the government $1.25 per acre for a tract of 170 acres. For the next 20 years, he kept a diary of his daily activities, reflecting both hard work and civic life in early settlement of the area.
Joseph Vial petitioned for the “Flag Creek Post Office”, which became established in his cabin. After Mrs. Vial and the children came to join him, their home became a stop on the Chicago and Ottawa stage route, providing meals and sometimes overnight accommodations for travelers. In the early 1830s, the Potawatomi Indians were frequent visitors. Chief Shabbona sometimes slept beside the fireplace, rolled up in a blanket, according to Samuel Vial, Joseph’s oldest son.
When the U.S. government negotiated for the Potawatomie lands, promising a reservation in Iowa, the Native Americans moved in small bands. The Vial property was the last campground in Cook County for a final group of about 70 men, women, and children. A stone marker commemorating the event was erected by the D.A.R. in 1930 and remains today, located on the west side of the Timber Trails entrance. [Editor’s note: this marker has been since moved to the new entrance at Wolf and Plainfield Roads.]
In 1835, the first Cook County Democratic Convention, called the Flagg Creek Convention, was held in Joseph Vial’s cabin, which had been enlarged by that time. In addition to the Cook County delegates, others came from DuPage and Will Counties to nominate candidates for state offices.
The 1856 Rob't Vial home, since moved from Timber Trails.
Well before his death in 1853, Joseph Vial sold his acreage to his sons Samuel and Robert. Samuel acquired other property in the township and eventually moved into La Grange. Robert Vial received the post office appointment and built a two-story Greek Revival house located on the east side of the present-day Timber Trails parking lot [Editor’s note: this refers to the golf course’s parking lot, which was located near the new entrance on Plainfield Road]. This 1856 house was saved, moved to the Pleasant Dale Park District and restored as a joint project of the Flagg Creek Historical Society and the Park District.
Robert and Mary Ketchum Vial had six children. They raised registered Friesian cattle on what became Timber Trails fairways, built the first silo in Cook County, and kept abreast of the newest agricultural methods.
Robert was named Lyons Township Treasurer, a position he held for almost 40 years. Until the first bank opened in the area, he kept township funds at home in a safe, paying the teachers and keeping records of a growing school system. Upon his death in 1921, his property was divided among his children. His son Frederick, known as F.K., built the Timber Trails Golf Course in 1929-30 as a sideline to his career as Vice-President of the Griffin Wheel Co. The course was designed by Robert Bruce Harris and built with local labor. A water hazard was constructed by dynamiting the limestone, exposing tons of fossilized rock. International Harvester loaned a bulldozer for that part of the construction.
F. K. Vial’s son, Harold, and son-in-law Rollin Brooks co-managed Timber Trails from 1949 until the property was sold to Hinsdale developer Roger Anderson in 1964. Golf course holes #13 thru #17 were moved to provide for the Ridgewood housing development while retaining 18 holes. Mr. Anderson was instrumental in having the course named an Audubon Bird Sanctuary and proved a good steward of the old-growth trees on the property.
Shabbona (c 1775 - 1859) was a chief of the Potawatomi Indians who participated in many of the Indian Wars of the early 19th century, including the Battle of the Thames and the Blackhawk War. A street is named after him in Indian Head Park. Brian Bardy has been kind enough to let us reprint his essay on Shabbona and the Vial family.
Chief Shabbona, Friend of the Vial Family and Chicago Theatre Goer
Research confirms Chief Shabbona’s long-established relationship with the Vial family of Lyons Township spanning several decades from the 1840s to the 1850s.
In the fall of 1833, Joseph Vial arrived in Chicago from Elmira, New York, traveled to Lyons Township and built a log cabin on Plainfield Road near Flagg Creek.[1] The only settlers in the area at that time were a few unidentified land squatters and a couple of fur traders, David and Bernardus Laughton of Lyons.[2] Joseph’s wife, Louisa, and their two sons, Samuel and Robert, arrived at Chicago on July 25, 1834 aboard the side-wheel steam boat Uncle Sam originating from Buffalo, New York, via the Great Lakes.[3]
Chief Shabbona was a familiar guest at the Vial household, known to have visited on at least three occasions.[4] One visit occurred in early December of 1845 after Shabbona returned from Washington, D.C., where on November 24 U.S. Senator Lewis A. Cass introduced him to President James K. Polk at the White House.[5][6] Cass and Shabbona had fought on opposing sides during the Battle of the Thames where on October 5, 1813 Tecumseh was killed.
Chief Shabbona, circa 1855
Samuel Vial recalled another occasion when Shabbona visited the Vials. “He [Shabbona] was in the great battle where old Tecumseh was killed, and I never can forget how vividly he portrayed what happened in the famous fight to a crowd of settlers at my father’s house one bright moonlight night.”[7]
Shabbona’s third visit with the Vials occurred one day after a trip to a Chicago theatre, where he reported seeing actors portraying American Indians. The stage Indians wore long black wigs. When hair fell in their eyes, the actors brushed it back with their hands, “a thing no real Indian ever did and it was at once noticed by the old chief.”[8] The history of Chicago theatre indicates one play, “Chicago in 1812” or “The Massacre at Fort Dearborn,” performed at the Rice Theatre on December 19-20, 1856 had new costumes and new scenery depicting Fort Dearborn and the lake shore as it appeared in 1812.[9] The play is based on the historical romance Wau-nan-gee written by Major John Richardson.[10][11]
Shabbona’s attendance at the Rice Theatre during this engagement is highly probable based on his knowledge of the attack on Fort Dearborn and the role he played protecting the survivors held at John Kinzie’s house.[12][13]
Brian G. Bardy Copyright 2012 Brian G. Bardy: Article may not be duplicated or transmitted without the expressed written consent of the author.
Footnotes: [1] “Before Chicago was: Samuel Vial of Lagrange came here fifty-five years ago.” Chicago Inter Ocean, 21 July 1889. [2] Benedetti, R. M. & Bulat, V. C. Portage, Pioneers and Pubs: A history of Lyons, Illinois. Chicago: Angel Guardian Orphanage Press, 1963. [3] “Before Chicago was: Samuel Vial of Lagrange came here fifty-five years ago.” Chicago Inter Ocean, 21 July 1889. [4] “Before Chicago was: Samuel Vial of Lagrange came here fifty-five years ago.” Chicago Inter Ocean, 21 July 1889. [5] Dowd, James. Built Like a Bear. Fairfield, WA: YE Galleon Press, 1979. [6] Matson, Nehemiah. Memories of Shaubena: with Incidents Relating to the Early Settlement of the West. Chicago: D. B. Cooke and Co., 1878. [7] “Before Chicago was: Samuel Vial of Lagrange came here fifty-five years ago.” Chicago Inter Ocean, 21 July 1889. [8] “Before Chicago was: Samuel Vial of Lagrange came here fifty-five years ago.” Chicago Inter Ocean, 21 July 1889. [9] “Benefit of Mr. J. H. Wright.” The Chicago Daily Journal, 18 December 1856. [10] Sherman, Robert L. Chicago Stage: Its Records and Achievements. Volume 1. Chicago: Robert L. Sherman, 1947. [11] Wilt, James N. The History of the Two Rice Theatres in Chicago from 1847 to 1857. A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Literature in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Department of English, The University of Chicago, August, 1923. [12] Hatch, Luther A. The Indian Chief Shabbona. DeKalb, IL: Mrs. L. A. Hatch, 1915. [13] Matson, Nehemiah. “Sketch of Shaubena, Pottowatamie Chief.” Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Volume 7: 417-418. Madison, WI: Wisconsin Historical Society, 1908.
