In 1886, Captain George Wellington Streeter, a rambunctious, charismatic, wily, would-be gunrunner, went aground in his old 40 foot sloop about 450 ft. from shore in a fierce lake Michigan storm. According to a contemporary survey, at this time the Lake Shore was never more that 100 ft. from Michigan Ave. More and more sand and debris settled around the boat; Streeter and his wife were stuck; so Cap'n Streeted an Ma decided to live there just off Superior St. The "island" gres, the shore and its smelly debris did too until finally they joined to become a 168 acre bulge between The River and The Drake (Oak ST.) --now bigger and occupied by hospitals, universities, museums, hi-end commercial traffic--all referred to by busses and Chicagoans as "Streeterville." Captain Streeter claimed "His Territory" because it was "made land" and not part of Chicago, not part of Illinois, not subject to any of their taxes or rules. He was particularly interested in his own hours for his saloons. He would only deal with the Federal government. Things were amazingly quiet for a time until Cap'n Streeter started selling lots! A number of them sold to policemen he had befriended. Then began more than 20 years of struggle between Streeter and the Riparian Right Owners who tried using the law, raids, and hiring thugs to get rid of the Streeters. Nothing seemed to succeed. Someone always tipped off the Streeterd and they would "not be home" or they could be quite creative in self defense. Cap'n and Ma Streeter were fighting Mr. N. K. Fairbank, the Healys, the Farwells, the Ogden Estate and more. Mr. Potter Palmer, who had talked a lot of these important Chicagoans into buying land on the North Side, had built a house further north and mostly stayed out of the fray. Cap'n Streeter said, "Potter Palmer, He eez me friend." Streeter became sort of a folk hero. At about the same time the property owners along the shore came up against another formidable force: The Lincoln Park Commission determined to make Chicago a beautiful city. They were more powerful than City Hall and didn't even consult it. Evidently they had enough clout to forge ahead on their own planning and built beautiful Lincoln Park and parks on the shoreline after they cleaned it up. They also set up the plans for Lake Shore Drive, whose potential roadbed was largely under shallow water at the time and would need lots of fill. April 25, 1902 "The Shore of Lake Michigan," paper given at at he Law Club of Chicago by Edward O. Brown, a lawyer for the Lincoln Park Commission, can be found in the archives of The Chicago Historical Society. Big Bill Thompson became Mayor in 1916. Ref--Any transfers of land in this "made" land to this day, when Chicago Title and Trust Co. insures it, includes a clause: Subject to the Claims of Streeterville.