Legal Battles
During the time between the police scuffles, the millionaires in that
area were bringing up court cases against the captain. The area where Streeter
had landed actually belonged to millionaire Kellogg Fairbank (Stamper 47).
At the time of the captain’s arrival, Fairbank saw no harm in letting him
remain there for a while; however, when the landfill was becoming more
complete Streeter began selling the land surrounding the boat. This angered
Fairbank because his land was being sold from under him, so in 1893 he
filed a suit for forcible entry and a detainment against Streeter (48);
this means that Streeter was there without permission and he would be put
into custody once he is caught. He now legally had to move off of the property,
but he decided to stay. In the mean time, the wealthy land owners realized
that if a road was built on the new land connecting downtown with the North
Side, they could make a lot of money by selling it back to the city (48).
Streeter made attempts to try and stop them from building on "his" land.
In the mid-1890’s he "surveyed the area from the river to Oak Street and
east of St. Clair Street" (51). Then he tried to register this plot with
the county recorder, but he was rejected because most of it was still underwater.
At one time Streeter tried convincing people that he had a document signed
by President Grover Cleveland saying that he owned some property in that
area. But the signature was forged, and he still didn’t legally own any
land even though he continued to sell plots to people (52). As the property
owners were building the road, soon to be called Lake Shore Drive, entrepreneur
Potter Palmer began pondering how to use the new road to his benefit. He
began developing the area land north of the project (soon to be called
the Gold Coast because of the high class residents) and purchased some
of the land where the road would be located (53). He was unable to see
the completion of his project because he passed away in 1902, but his two
sons continued his dream (54). The Palmer heirs were unfortunate enough
to encounter Captain Streeter. This time he was claiming land, that the
Palmers all ready owned, as his own. Since the courts wouldn’t listen to
his plea Streeter decided to raise a small army and set up a blockade to
try and maintain "his" land. The police shortly put a stop to this final
effort. This was the high point of Streeter’s battle for his district,
after that, his efforts were minor and his struggle was coming to an end.
Previous Section - Streeter Runs Ashore
Next section - Ending and Final Outcome
Back to the home of Streeter