What does the word “Chicago” mean?
The official origin is that “Chicago” is the French version of the Miami-Illinois word shikaakwa (“Stinky Onion”), named for the garlic plant (not onion) Allium tricoccum common along the Chicago River.
However there have been many theories over the years, and here are some of them:
- Che-cau-gou—Indian tribe
Chicagoua—Miami and Illinois word for “skunk”
Chi-cago—Indian word for “thunder”
Chicagou—Jesuit mission and French army post at the site of Marquette`s 1675 camp along the south branch
Shecaugo—playful waters
Chief Chicagou, also known as Agapit Chicagou—Native American leader of the Mitchigamea
Chicago Tribune, July 2, 1857
CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
important Facts and inquisies Belating to the Early History of Chicago.
At an adjourned regular meeting of the Chicago Historical Society, held June 26th at the house of Mr. E. I. Tinkham, Mr. Scammon, Vice-President, in the chair-
Mr. Barry, the Secretary, read a paper prepared by him, containing an account of the
“early historical notices of Chieago.” The object of the paper was chiefly to prove first, that the locality now bearing that name, was and had been well known under its present designation, at the time of its first discovery; and, secondly, that its geographical importance, as a principal point of communication between the Mississippi and Illinois rivers and the easterly parts of Northern America, was also well understood by the aboriginal inhabit-ants.
The writer supposed the first knowledge of the place to have been acquired by Marquette from the Indians, in describing the great unknown river of the West (the Mississippi), one of whose names, as Marquette understood, was Chucagua. But the first who identified it was probably Nicholas Parrot, in 1670, who made a voyage through Lake Michigan to Chicago, and may be considered its first real discoverer.
Particulars were then given of the two visits to the place by Marquette. The first was made in returning from his discovery of the Mississippi with Joliet, in 1673, when he passed from the branch of the Illinois river, now known as the Aux Plaines, by a portage since called the Portage des Chines, to the Chicago river, into Lake Michigan and thence to Green Bay; and, secondly, on his next and final visit as missionary to the Illinois, in which he left the mission of St. Francis, Oct. 25, 1674, with Pierre Porteret and Jacques as his attendants, and, arriving, in enfeebled health, at the Chicago inlet, Dec. 4, found it frozen, obliging him to pass the winter in the vicinity. He found two Frenchman (one a surgeon) living 18 miles from Chicago at a place called La Robbe Riviere, and a village of Indians six leagues distant; from both he received every necessary attention. He remained in his winter quarters, about two leagues from the mouth of the river, (probably near Beers’ Farm,) until the end of March, when, by the breaking up of the ice, he was able (so high wee the waters) to pass in his canoe into the Illinois, without making the usual portage. Marquette noticed, among other things in his narrative, the daily fluctuations of the Lake, since well known. (Carefully prepared tide-tables of Lake Michigan, from observations made at Chicago, may be found in Lt. Col. Graham’s report to the U. S. Goverminent, made in Dec., 1856, and printed by order of Congress: Sen. Ex. Doc., No. 16.)
The next recorded visit referred to was that of LaSalle, on his way to the Mississippi for the purpose of exploring it to its mouth, the partieu lars of which are given by Father Membre. The latter, with Tonty, first proceeded “to the divine river, called by the Indians Checagou,” where they were soon joined, Jan. 1682, by La Salle and the rest of his troops. The party proceeded on sledges, which Tonty had meanwhile prepared, over the frozen surface of the Chicagou; but were obliged to make the usual portage to the Illinois.
Charlevoix, a later authority, described, in 1721, the modern river as Chicagou; and the account by Coxe, of Chicago harbor and the St. Joseph river was given at length, in which he descants in terms of admiration, upon the beauty, and fertility of the country about the southern shores of Lake Michigan, the abundance of wild animals, and the luxuriance of the wild vine, “some running up to the tops of the highest trees, others running upon the ground,” “which being duly cultivated, excellent wines might be made of the fruits thereof.”
The importance of Chicago, as a well known and central point in the Northwest, was illustrated by numerous allusions to it by name, in the public documents of New France. The Fox Indians are described as fifty leagues, in the direction of Chicagou, from the Muscoutins and Quickapoos. The latter are noticed as being also about fifty leagues from Chicagous, which they must pass on their way to Detroit and the river St. Joseph. The St. Joseph is described as thirty leagues from Chicagou, The same distance is given from the Chicagou to the Rocks, (the residence of the Peorias.) De Tonty 1ocates the Mississippi river as “one hundred and fifty leagues from Chicagou.”
Mr. Barry supposed that only transient settlements or Indians existed at Chicago, at the time of its first discovery, excepting, perhaps, the small village of the Illinois referred to by Marquette, who may have been stationed at the Calumet.
In 1718, the Miamies are noticed by a French writer as having recently been at Chicago, but being afraid of the canoe people (the Outawas or Wyandots,) they left it.” Charlevois, writing in 1721, notes that “fifty years ago (1671) the Miamies were settled at the south end of Lake Michigan, in a place called Chicagou, from the name of a small river which runs into the Lake.” It is quite probable the Miamies at that period possessed this part of the country; but, according to other authorities, were driven from their grounds by the Pottawatomies (then inhabiting the region about Green Bay, called by Coxe the Bay of the Poltawatomies) who remained in possession of this country until the period of their removal by the U. S. authorities about twenty years since.
Mr. Barry them proceeded to notice the coincidence of the name of this place, with that or the principal chief of the Illinois Indians, who inhabited the central and more southerly parts of Illinois, along the Alineuecks or Illinois, and the Mississippi River. Marquette in 1674, notices a visit from Chicagouessiese (meaning the younger Chicagou, the final suffix being a diminutive) and refers to him as “a man held in high esteem among the Illinois.”
Nearly eighty years after, Bossu, a French officer at Fort Chartres, the commanding post in Illinois, wrote in 1753, that on the 10th of June of preceding year, he was ordered to assemble the remains of the Koakias (Cahokias) and Mitchigamias, who had recently been defeated by the Fox Indians, at which time a speech was made by “Chikagou” whom he calls ” a chief with a medal.” This he afterwards explains, in stating that the chief was the son of one who in 1720 visited the court of France, where he had an honorable reception, with the added distinction of a medal, bearing the portrait of the King, which he ever wore afterwards. Chikazou, also called Prince of Tamaroas, died in 1751, and was succeeded by Papape Changoukias, who accompanied the Chevalier de Viliers to Virginia, during the old French war, and captured there a fort with its English garrison. From these facts it was inferred that the name of Chikagou may have long existed as marking the principal chief of the Illinois. Bossu refers to them as “the grand chief,” and as belonging to the ancient tibe of the Tamaroas. The tribe bearing this name lived for a long period, near the Mississippi, towards Fort Chartres.
It was found difficult to determine the absolute meaning and significance of the name of Chicago. There is but littie doubt that a word of similar sound in the Indian tongues is the name of the animal called the polecat, and also of that species of the allium in botany, called the wild leek. But while it is improbable that the name of an Indian chief of distinction should be derived from the wild onion, there is no historical authority on the other hand, nor presumptive evidence, even, that it was derived from so unsavory an animal as the polecat. French writers of an early date have fortunately preserved to as the principal devices of the Illinois tribes enumerating only the bear, the white hind, the fox and the tortoise. The tradition referred to by the authoress of Waubun, as generally credited, that Chicago derived its name from an ancient chief who was drowned in the river, possesses, it will be seen, an historical probability.
The authority of maps and charts was discussed at some length by the writer of the report. Marquettes map is preserved in St. Mary’s College at Montreal, and a facsimile of it is in the possession of the Chicago Historical Society. This notes the point of the Chicago Harbor, and the near approach to it of the Illinois River, but no name is given to either.
De l’Isles map, after La Salle’s memoranda, also belonging to the society, gives with great accuracy the present Chicago river—the main river and both branches—to which is given the name of Chicago river.
Chicago Tribune, June 10, 1897
The first mention of the word Che-cau-gou, the Chicago of modern times, is in Hennepin’s account of La Salle’s expedition to the Illinois River by way of the St. Joseph and Kankakee in 1680. The title of one of his chapters has been translated “An Account of the Building of a New Fort on the River of the Illinois Named by the Savages Che-cau-gou and by US Fort Creveceur.” The river indicated by La Salle is now known as the Desplaines River.1
E. A. Haines in an article written for Blanchard’s History of Illinois2 says regarding the word:
The word Chicago is understood to be an Indian word; at least it is derived from that source. What its precise meaning is, or whether it has any particular meaning at all in its present form as now applied, is a matter of considerable dispute among those who have given the subject attention. The word comes to us through the early French explorers of the West as an Indian word from tho language of the Algonquin group. Whilst this group of the North American tribes had one general or generic language by which they were distinguished each tribe had its dialect differing more or less from that of other tribes of thie same group. The standard or parent language, however, since ite people came known to the whites was that spoken by the Ojibways (Chippeways), the most powerful and numerous of tie various tribes of this group
Those who pretend to make any positive assertion as to the correct meaning of this word, as an Indian word, seem to have confined their investigations on the subject to the Indian language as spoken by the Ojibways without reference to other dialects, seeming to ignore the fact that it could come from any other source, whereupon they reached the conclusion and so assert that it means onions, garlic, leek, or skunk. So far as appears at this day there seems to have been no special inquiry into the origin or meaning of this word until about the time of the rebuilding of Fort Dearborn in 1816.
The year following that event Colonel Samuel A. Starront visited this place, and in a letter to General Jacob Brown of the United States army referred to the river here as ‘The River Chicago, or in the English, ‘Wild Onion River.’ The definition of the onion by the Rev. Edward Welson in his dictionary of the Ojibway language is keche-she-gaug-vh-wunzh. He defines skunk as zhe-gang. John Tanner, for thirty years a captive among the Ojibways and many years United States Indian interpreter, in a ‘Catalogue of Plants and Animals Found In the Country of the Ojibways with English Names,’ appended to the narrative of his captivity, defines skunk as she-gang. He defines onion as she-gau-ga- (skunk weed). In a note thereto by Dr. James, editor of Tanner’s narrative, it is added: From shih-gau-ga-winzhe, this word in the singular number, some derive the name Chicago.’ It is noticed that all who contend that the word Chicago as applied to the river and city of that name means skunk, onion. or the like, derive their convictions on the subject from one or more of the authorities which are before cited, or from some one familiar with the Ojibway language who forms his convictions to the same effect from the coincidence of sounds.
History is so unsatisfactory and varied in regard to this word that we are left to this day to determine its meaning solely on the basis on the similarity of sounds. For there seems to be no fact or incident narrated or mentioned in history that leads with any degree of certainty either to the original meaning of this word or to the dialect from which it is derived, And it is to be confessed on the theory aforesaid, conceding that the word comes from the Ojlbway language or dialect, no one is prepared to dispute the assertion so generally made that the word is derived from ‘skunk.’ The word skunk being in the Indian tongue simply she-kang, in order to make Chicago the theory adopted Is that ong, an Ojlbway local termination, is added which makes Chi-cag- ong, meaning at the skunk, the sound ng being dropped In common speech, leaving the word in the form now used. Whilst this is not inconsistent in practice in dealing with Indian names there is another theory. It is suggested. which may be adopted in this connection that would seem to be equally consistent. The word Chi-ca-go without adding ‘ng’ would be a fair Ojlbway expression. The sound ‘o’ added would denote the genitive and might be rendered thus, ‘Him of the skunk,’ In case it would probably be the name of an Individual, and it is stated that this word is the name not only of some one Indian chief, but the name also of a line of chiefs during several generatIons.
The most that can be said of the word with any degree of certainty is that it is of Indian origin and comes from some dialect of the Algonquin group, so called. It must be noted, however, that in the Ojibway dialect this word, or that which is essentially the same, is not confined in its meaning to that contended for as before mentioned. The word may mean also in that language, to forbear or avoid, from kah-go, forbear, and che, a prefix answering to our preposition to; or, it may mean something great from kago, something, and ‘chi,’ from git-che, great. Besides several other words or expressions which may be found in this dialect of the same sound, yet of different meanings, Chi-ca-gua was the name of a noted Sac chief, and means in that dialect ‘He that stands by the tree.’ In the Pottawatomie dialect the word choc-ca-go, without addition or abridgement, means destitute.
This map of North America, published in the Atlante Veneto, is widely considered to be one of Coronelli’s finest maps, and is cartographically similar to the scene depicted on his famous globe of 1688. Printed initially on two separate sheets, the present example has been carefully joined to form a unified image. The map is preserved in its uncolored state, as originally intended. Beyond its attractive aesthetic, in the present map Coronelli has rendered the continent with far greater geographical detail than his contemporaries, having benefited enormously from his favor at the French court, and his publishing partnership with Paris cartographer Jean-Baptiste Nolin. The Great Lakes are executed with unrivalled accuracy, drawing on information gleaned in 1673 by the Quebecois explorer Louis Jolliet, and his traveling companion, the French-born Jesuit Jacques Marquette. The Mississippi basin is rendered with great detail, reflecting French discoveries, most notably those by René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle on his first expedition of 1679-82. This map depicts La Salle’s dramatic misplacement of the mouth of the Mississippi 600 miles to the west of its true location. Importantly, it is on the western portion of the map where Coronelli has added the most significant amount of new information, drawn mostly from a highly important manuscript map by Diego Dionisio de Peñalosa Briceño y Berdugo, which included numerous previously unrecorded place names and divided the Rio Grande into the Rio Norte and the Rio Bravo in the south. The most prominent geographical detail is California’s appearance as a massive island, this map being one of the best renderings of this beloved misconception.
Joliet’s Map of New France
1674
First Printed Map featuring “Chekagou.”
Vincenzo Maria Coronelli
1688
Carte d’Amerique (section)
Guillaume Delisle
Paris
1733
Canada Louisiane et Terres Anglois (section)
Jean Baptiste Bourguignon D’Anville
1755
NOTES
1 Nouvelle Decouverte d’un Tres Grand Pays Situé dans l’Amérique (A New Discovery of a Vast Country in America), by Louis Hennepin, 1680
2 History of Illinois, by Rufus Blanchard, 1883
Carl J. Weber says
SEE
Chicago was named after the plant (Allium tricoccum), the problem is the name of that plant in the Miami-Illinois language was 8inissisi8a (read 8 as w). The entirety of the Smelly Onion Thesis for Chicago’s name traces back to an anonymous comment jotted down by one Henri Joutel in 1688. That’s all — a few anecdotal words from an anonymous informant. See the above website for a scholarly treatment that deals with the Smelly Onion Thesis, and deals with the historical source of Chicago’s name: LaSalle name Chicago as the Gateway to the River of DeSoto.
Carl J. says
Hi all,
(You can see my map library at for hi-res reference links.) The big colorful map of Jolliet, above, is a reasonable reproduction that appeared in the Jesuit Relations in about 1900. The original can be linked to in the John Carter Brown Library. You can always tell the original because the big words in the upper left corner are smudged on the original. HOWEVER, the map, “discovered” in 1879, in the Brown Library, and published the following year, is a huge historical fraud, on par with the Marquette Map historical fraud. Regarding the Jolliet, of 63 names on the 1674 Hughes Randin Map, of the Mississippi and its tributary names, 62 of those Randin names are plagiarized onto the fake Jolliet. And the general schematic of the Mississippi is plagiarized from (what I call) the 1674-75 Camel Maps. I wrote a piece about this on the website listed above. If anyone is interested in a study group about “The Exploration and Discovery in the Heartland of America, 1650-1700 — Map Intensive,” do tell. Regards, Carl
Carl J. Weber says
One more thing, regarding the way-way above, “The official origin is that “Chicago” is the French version of the Miami-Illinois word shikaakwa (“Stinky Onion”), named for the garlic plant (not onion) Allium tricoccum common along the Chicago River”… That is not true according to primary sources.
The “shikaakwa” word is the name for the skunk. The name for the “Stinky Onion” is “wanissisia.” This is clear, and it’s from the Le Boulanger and St. Jerome ancient Miami-Illinois/French dictionaries. In those dictionaries, the “Stinky Onion” word, actually entered as “garlic” (french, d l’ail), can be used to refer to the plant as slang, and it is marked as “abusive” when so used. If you are of a scholarly bent of mind, let’s discuss, with primary sources.
La Salle named Chicago. He was earliest in a text (1680) and on a map (1683). His word was always “Checagou”. It was a transliteration of “Chucagua’, the River of De Soto.