To say the least, George Wellington Streeter was an eccentric character. He crashed his boat into a sand bar, and instead of moving it, he decided to stay put and claim the sand bar and the land around it as his "Deestrict of Lake Michigan." After numerous scuffles and long legal processes, Streeter was unable to maintain "his" land.
Although Captain Streeter was famous in the Chicago area, he was not
born there. George Wellington Streeter was born on a farm in Flint, Michigan,
in 1837. It is uncertain how many siblings he actually had, some sources
say that he was one of thirteen children, and others say that he had ten
brothers and sisters (Streeterville Story 1). George Streeter grew up to
become an adventurer and pioneer. He wandered the Great Lakes working as
a logger and trapper, as an ice cutter on Saginaw Bay, a deck hand on a
vessel plying Canada’s island-studded Georgian Bay, and a miner in the
iron and copper country. After traveling with a couple of friends, he returned
home the day before the Civil War began. Like a good patriot he joined
the Union army. He started out as a private; however, he was discharged
as a captain after fighting in the Tennessee theater. As soon as the war
ended, his wife, Minnie, convinced him to start a short career as a showman.
After the second year his show went bankrupt and he became a lumberjack.
Eventually his wife became fed up with Streeter, so she left him and took
all of their money. Later he was remarried, this time it was to Maria Mullholland.
Together they shared the adventure that made Captain George Wellington
Streeter famous in Chicago. (Tessendorf, 153)
Next Section - Streeter Runs Ashore
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