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Scene 1: The Laughtons
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Although the first stretch of the "South West Plank Road" (now
Ogden Avenue) from Chicago to the Riverside area was not built until 1848, the original trail and the Indian ford across the DesPlaines River was a well traveled route for pioneers who wished to settle west of Fort Dearborn. Among the first pioneers in the area were the Laughton (or Lawton) brothers, David and Bernardus (Barney), who established a trading post in 1828 near the Portage and the "South West Plank Road". Three years later, the brothers built the Laughton Tavern on the DesPlaines River (it was called the Aux Plaines then) near what is now the intersection of Barrypoint and Millbridge Roads.
Click on the picture below for a larger version of the original map.
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