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An early fur-trade contract, drawn up in Ville-Marie, Quebec, in 1692, contains one of the earliest manuscript references to Chicago; a former owner of the manuscript underlined the place name in the phrase “au lieu de Chicagou” (in the place of Chicago). One of a limited number of legitimate trade contracts that survives from the early years of New France, it underscores the growing importance of the Illinois region to the fur trade by the end of the seventeenth century. The document established an agreement between Francois Francoeur dit Lavallée—represented by his wife, Marie Magdelaine St.-Jean, who was permitted to conduct the couple’s joint business affairs while he was in Illinois (“aux Illinois”)—and four voyagers to travel by canoe to the Jesuit mission and French army post established along what became known as the Chicago River. Chicago was incorporated as a town on this week in 1833. It was incorporated as a city March 4, 1837, the date most often celebrated in the present day. #chicago #history #newfrance #manuscript