Historian Patrick McBriarty reveals an intimate look at the five months between April and August 1812 and the events and intrigue surrounding the remote military, French, and Indian trading outpost of Chicagou. Centered on John Kinzie, the area’s leading fur and Indian trader who is embroiled in preserving his family and business amidst Indian Country caught between the British, Native Americans, and upstart land-hungry Americans at the outset of The War of 1812.

Coffee Talk programs are open to the public. Admission is free; $3 suggested donation.

Image Credit: Juliette Augusta Magill Kinzie. From Narrative of the Massacre at Chicago, August 15, 1812, and of Some Preceding Events, 1844. Newberry Call Number: VAULT Ruggles 209. Newberry Digital Collections for the Classroom. http://dcc.newberry.org/items/chicago-in-1812