The treaty helped build what’s now the city of Chicago and gave the United States government control over more Great Lakes waterways. Those borders are marked by the Rogers Avenue plaque, Indian Boundary Park in West Ridge and Indian Boundary Golf Course on Cook County Forest Preserve land in Dunning. Ninian Edwards and brothers George Rogers Clark and William Clark - Clark Street is named after Revolutionary War soldier George Rogers Clark - helped get included in the treaty a 20-by-70 mile tract of land along the Chicago River from Rogers Avenue south to Lake Calumet. Louis, when United States government officials in 1816 attained land from Indigenous people in the Midwest. The Indian Boundary Lines is the product of the Treaty of St. ‘We Don’t Have Anywhere Where Our History Is Shown’ Credit: Joe Ward/Block Club Chicago The Indian Boundary Lines plaque was erected in 1937, but currently sits behind an electrical box. Now, Rogers Park neighbors are mulling what should happen to the Indian Boundary Lines plaque, including how it could be modernized to reflect more perspectives on the controversial land treaty. Launched by Mayor Lori Lightfoot last year, the initiative aims to re-evaluate potentially problematic statues and monuments throughout the city. The line cut through modern-day Rogers Avenue, where the plaque stands on a building at Rogers and Clark Street.Įrected in 1937, the plaque is among the 40 city monuments being reconsidered under the Chicago Monuments Project. The plaque marks the Indian Boundary Lines, the northern edge of land the United States government took from Indigenous people that would become the city of Chicago. ROGERS PARK - Tucked behind an electrical box on a Rogers Park corner is a plaque that commemorates a controversial moment in Chicago history.

Boundary Lines by Isla Ryder