September 19 Illinois History Minute

It’s September 19th, marking the start in 1813 of the Peoria War, a month of fighting during the War of 1812, between U-S Army troops and Potawatomi and Kickapoo tribes living in the area of modern-day Peoria. The Potawatomi and Kickapoo defeat was one step in the U-S push to move native tribes out of Illinois.

Newspaper columnist Mike Royko was born in Chicago on this day in 1932. During a more than thirty-year career, Royko became known as a thorn in the side of Chicago politicians, winning a Pulitzer Prize, and publishing “Boss”, a muckraking bestseller about the elder Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley.

On this day in 1971, after decades at Wrigley Field, the Chicago Bears made Soldier Field their regular season home, with a 17 to 15 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.