Although Streeter (as well as Wellington) is a famous name in Chicago, Captain George Wellington Streeter wasn't born here. Captain Streeter was born in 1837 on a farm in Flint, Michigan; but he didn't stay there too long. Streeter grew up to become an adventurer and pioneer. Wandering the Great Lakes, he toiled as a logger and trapper, an ice cutter on Saginaw Bay, and a miner in the iron and copper country.

After his extensive travels, Streeter returned to Flint and his farm the day before the Civil War began. Being a good patriot, he joined the Union army; soon, however, he was discharged as a captain after fighting in the Tennessee theater. When the war ended, his wife (Minnie) convinced him to start a career as a showman in a traveling circus; unfortunately, his show folded in two years. After that, he decided to become a lumberjack.

His many career changes (which, before his death, also included a livery stable, an omnibus line, a hotel, the Apollo Theatre, and hocking household wares at country fairs) became too much for Minnie. She finally left him, taking all their money with her. Not one to sit still long, Streeter remarried, this time to Maria Mullholland. Together they shared the adventure that made Captain George Wellington Streeter famous in Chicago.

Captain Streeter bought and repaired an old boat, naming it the "Reutan." The maiden voyage of the Reutan took place on July 10, 1886 (Captain Streeter had been test driving his boat in anticipation of a gun-running trip to Honduras). The Reutan ran into stormy weather, though, and he never made it to Honduras. After being tossed around for a couple of hours, the Reutan ran aground on a sandbar approximately 450 feet offshore of Superior Street. As soon as the storm passed, Captain Streeter began evaluating his situation. He and his wife were all but broke, so they decided to leave the Reutan where she sat and live on it, rent-free.

Being an opportunist, Streeter soon recognized that he was in a potentially lucrative position. Local building developers were scrambling for space to dump old building materials and construction debris. For a fee, Streeter allowed them to dump their detritus on the sandbar he'd run aground on (which was still his home). He had no authority to allow this, but he claimed that the sandbar was a separate commonwealth, and he named it the "District of Lake Michigan" (he also proclaimed himself Governor).

Streeter firmly believed his proclamation to be valid, noting a map (based on an 1821 survey), which showed that the east curb of Michigan Avenue was the boundary of Chicago, Cook County, and Illinois. Whether the developers believed him or not, they jumped at the chance to use his sandbar as their dumping ground. Buildings in downtown Chicago were being constructed hand over fist, and there was no end to the debris that was finding its way to Governor Streeter's sandbar, the District of Lake Michigan. The area between the Reutan and the Chicago shoreline was quickly being filled in.

Never one to miss a chance, Captain Streeter began selling his land (which totaled 186 acres) to anyone willing to set up a shack there. However, the legitimate (and wealthy) homeowners around the new Streeterville neighborhood began to complain about the shantytown that had sprung up under their noses.

The City listened and stepped in. In July of 1889, five policemen tried to evict Streeter and his wife, but were rebuffed by gunfire. A year later five more policemen managed to capture Captain Streeter, but before they could haul him off, Maria (good wife that she was) threw a pot of boiling water on them. Needless to say, commotion ensued and Streeter was able to grab his rifle and again drive the policemen away. Finally, one more year later, five hundred policemen surrounded the entire Streeterville district and captured Captain Streeter and his "army" of tenants. Somehow, Streeter and his army were acquitted.

In the years during his battles with the police, Streeter's millionaire neighbors were filing court case after court case against him. The area where the Reutan ran aground actually belonged to a wealthy man named Kellogg Fairbank. When Streeter initially crashed on his sandbar, Fairbank saw no harm in letting him remain there for a while. However, Fairbank was angered when the landfill was complete and Streeter began selling the new land.

The local, legitimate landowners also realized that if a road were built on the new Streeterville connecting downtown with the North Side, they could sell it back to the City and make a fortune. Streeter himself also figured this out, and he made attempts to try and stop them from building on "his" land.

In the mid-1890's he surveyed the area east of St. Clair Street from the Chicago River to Oak Street. He then tried to register this plot with the county recorder, but was rejected because some of it was still underwater. Another time Streeter tried convincing people that he had a document signed by President Grover Cleveland saying that he owned some property in that area, but the signature was forged. Nevertheless, he still continued to sell plots to people, even though he didn't legally own any land.

As the real property owners built the road (which would be named Lake Shore Drive) entrepreneur Potter Palmer began pondering how to use it to his advantage. He began developing the land north of the road project (soon to be called the Gold Coast because of its wealthy residents) and purchased more land where the road would be located. He was unable to see the completion of his lucrative dream because he died in 1902, but his two sons continued his plan.

Unfortunately, the Palmer heirs ran into Captain Streeter. This time he was claiming land (that the Palmers already owned) as his own. Since the courts wouldn't listen to his plea, Streeter decided to raise a small army and set up a blockade to try and maintain "his" land. The police shortly put a stop to this, which would prove to be his final effort and the high point of Streeter's battle for his district.

On Monday, January 24, 1921, Captain George Wellington Streeter died from pneumonia. Since his futile battle for the land he felt he was entitled to, Streeter had served several years in prison for illegally selling liquor on "dry" Sundays, gotten married for a third time to a woman named Elma Lockwood, and moved into a houseboat on the Calumet River in East Chicago, Indiana.

Streeter's body was sent back to Chicago and hundreds of people passed by the side of the coffin during his funeral. He was then buried in Graceland Cemetery. After his death, Elma filed 1,500 complaints for compensation from the developers, but all of her pleas were rejected. The long and strenuous battle for Streeterville was finally over.

What began as just a sandbar off Superior Street, and was shortly deemed the "District of Lake Michigan," is today still referred to as "Streeterville." Its boundaries generally run south from Oak Street to the Chicago River, and extend from Pine Street to Lake Michigan. If nothing else, Captain Streeter would be happy that his legend lives on in the neighborhood's name.