In 1830, “Father” John Dixon’s family of seven comprised the entire population of Dixon. By the end of 1834, the tiny village had added probably fewer than a dozen newcomers.

However, a large group of settlers began streaming into the Dixon area between 1835 and 1839. Historians call this 5-year period “the great migration,” when other brave souls began trekking to Dixon’s Ferry and to the raw prairies of northwestern Illinois.

Why they came

After the Black Hawk War ended in August 1832, settlers from eastern states slowly began to feel safer about venturing into the Rock River valley. By 1835, worries of an Indian uprising had all but vanished.

The end of native hostilities also prompted the U.S. government to begin the massive project of surveying the land into 40-acre parcels. In 1833 and 1834, Col. William S. Hamilton, the son of Alexander Hamilton, took charge of the contract to survey much of northwestern Illinois, which included the Dixon area to the Wisconsin border.

$1.25 per acre!

Starting in 1835, the government began selling these parcels for only $1.25 an acre (about $40 an acre in today’s money) through the federal land office in Galena. At a time when land in eastern states was selling for $10 or $20 an acre, many eastern farmers jumped at the opportunity to head west and begin a new life in frontier America.

At $1.25 an acre, settlers of modest means could acquire the minimum purchase of 40 acres for only $50. Many settlers could afford to snatch up 160 acres or the maximum single transaction of 320 acres.

When Dixon was first platted in 1834-35, its 40 acres were bounded by the river to the north, a half block beyond Third Street to the south, a half block beyond Ottawa to the east, and a half block beyond Peoria to the west. Only two or three cabins then sat there on grassy land that gradually sloped to the river.

Unsurpassed beauty and fertility

In early 1835, several articles appeared in eastern newspapers with glowing reports of “the New Country” along the Rock River in Illinois. The articles, which appeared in major newspapers such as the Philadelphia Inquirer, said that this newly opened land was “attracting the particular attention of emigrants.”

The articles declared, “Without doubt the borders of Rock River are destined to be the richest as they are already the most beautiful part of Illinois.” An 1836 New York newspaper reported an eyewitness account of the Dixon-Grand Detour area, saying, “Nothing can surpass this section of country in beauty or fertility.”

Building ferries and roads

New roads and ferries also eased the difficulty of travel. Previously, the Rock River had been a great natural roadblock to travelers. But thanks to enterprising pioneers such as John Dixon in 1830, ferries allowed relatively reliable passage across the wide, deep and swift waters of the Rock.

Others soon acquired the rights to establish ferries at Oregon in 1834; Grand Detour in 1835; Rockford and Prophetstown in 1836; Daysville, Erie and Byron (then called Bloomingville) in 1837; Rockton in 1838; Lyndon in 1839; and Como in 1840.

Roads were primitive at that time, but trails for the mail and stagecoaches were being blazed to all the new settlements. On Jan. 1, 1834, the first government-planned trail from Chicago to Dixon opened. This “Chicago Road” in Dixon is today known as Chicago Avenue.

In 1835, a sawmill was built by the river near today’s South Peoria Avenue. The sawmill allowed settlers to purchase inexpensive sawn planks to build frame homes that offered better weather protection and adaptability than primitive log cabins.

From whence they came

According to the 1881 “History of Lee County,” the settlers of the great migration “came almost entirely from the East,” arriving in Dixon often via the Chicago Road. Of all settlers arriving before 1850, the state that brought the most people to the Dixon area was New York, John Dixon’s home state.

The next most popular states of origin, in order, were Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Ohio. Kentucky and Tennessee accounted for fewer pioneers who arrived from the South.

Most of these settlers were farmers, while some made a good business as a blacksmith, a wagon maker or as a stagecoach driver. Professionals also came, including ministers, lawyers and doctors, along with “blacklegs (i.e., swindlers) whose name is legion.”

The launch point at Dixon

For many travelers, the first local stop was Dixon’s Ferry, offering a breathtaking view of the Rock River. Those who didn’t stay in Dixon proceeded on stagecoach trails north to Grand Detour, south toward Princeton, west to Fulton and Savanna, northwest toward Galena or southwest to Rock Island.

In 1836 and 1837, to serve the influx of travelers, local businessmen built two small hotels in the center of the village. In 1837, John Dixon and others hired a New York firm to build a large hotel atop Dixon’s high spot near Galena Avenue and Third Street.

However, after the foundation was laid, the nationwide Panic of 1837 almost bankrupted the state and put a halt to the hotel project. This grand hotel would not be finished until 1853, when it opened as the Nachusa House, which still stands today.

How they came

The story of 29-year-old Major Leonard Andrus of Vermont is a good example of how the great migration worked. In 1834, Andrus went on a “prospecting tour through northern Illinois, having heard something of the beauty of that country.”

After he arrived at Dixon’s Ferry, Andrus went upriver “in a canoe paddled by Indians” in search of a place to put down roots. When he came to “the great bend” in the river, he was stunned by the beauty of this unique location.

After staking a claim on that spot, Andrus went back east to settle some business. He returned in 1835, paid the $1.25 an acre for his claim, and his little settlement became known as Grand Detour.

Famous names

One of the pioneers of the great migration was John Deere, also of Vermont, a blacksmith who joined Andrus in Grand Detour in 1836. There, he famously invented the first commercially successful steel plow in 1837.

John Deere isn’t the only name you might recognize among the throng of local pioneers who arrived here during the great migration. Others included the names of Everett, Chamberlin, Fellows, Crawford, McKenney, Dement, Morgan, Graham and Bradshaw. Their stories, and the streets named after them, will be told on Oct. 10.

• Dixon native Tom Wadsworth is a writer, speaker and occasional historian. He holds a Ph.D. in New Testament.