Potawatomi Peoples lived at Wolf Road Prairie and Hickory Lane

Wolf Road Prairie and Hickory Lane were located within the historic geographic boundaries of the Pottawatomi village of Saugannaka. A signal station, chipping stations, camps, mounds and trails were characteristic of this settlement along Salt Creek in Cook and DuPage Counties until the Blackhawk War of 1832. Following the war, the territory of Illinois opened to European settlement and native people were moved westward across the Mississippi River.

An arched trail tree still remains on Hickory Lane, a reminder of use of this area by native peoples.

Today, the history of our region’s Native American people is nearly forgotten as subdivisions, corporate complexes and shopping centers cover the lands of old native villages, outstations and sacred burial sites.

The Wolf Road Prairie area offers a location where the lives and cultures of Native Americans of the region can be remembered. The site can help preserve this Native American heritage from extinction in a historically accurate landscape setting.

Below is a map of the boundaries of Sagannaka. Wolf Road Prairie and Hickory Lane are located in the right hand square which extends into Cook County north of 31st Street.

Village boundaries from a map by Albert F. Scharf, 1900.