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14 | January 16, 2020 | The lake forest leader SOUND OFF
LakeForestLeaderDaily.com
Sharing Lake Bluff’s Stories
Posted to LakeForestLeaderDaily.com 1 day ago
Mission accomplished for Lake Bluff third-grader hunting for relics
Adrienne Fawcett
Lake Bluff History Museum
Tate Upham, a thirdgrader
at Lake
Bluff Elementary
School, was on a mission
to find war memorabilia
at Fort Sheridan Forest
Preserve. He had recently
visited the Lake Bluff
History Museum and was
fascinated by its war exhibit,
and he learned from
his dad that Fort Sheridan
was once a U.S. Army
Base.
Might the army have
left some things behind?
While out with his
mom, Tate started scraping
the ground near the
path, and within a minute
or two he found a very
old bullet and an equally
old casing.
“I didn’t even have a
metal detector!” said the
young relic hunter when
he brought his finds to the
museum.
I shared photos of Tate
and his bounty with board
members of the Lake
Bluff History Museum
and Fort Sheridan Historical
Society. What we
learned is fascinating!
The land for Fort
Sheridan was purchased
by the federal government
in 1887 in response
to a need for Chicago’s
protection after the
Haymarket riots. It became
a training center in
1898 during the Spanish
American War, according
to Janet Nelson, LBHM
co-founder.
The early Fort had a
gunnery range on the
east end, recalled LBHM
board secretary Paul
Bergmann.
“Soldiers could target
shoot into one of the ravines
for close shooting at
targets, and on the bluff’s
edge for longer-range
shooting,” he recalled.
“The cartridge and bullet
look like .40-caliber
ammunition used after
the Civil War and up to
World War II. It would
have been filled with
black powder and would
have had a huge plume of
smoke when fired. Very
deadly for its era.”
Given the Fort’s opening
date, LBHM board
member Mike Peters said
the bullet and cartridge
may have come from the
1873 Trapdoor Springfield
rifle, the first standardissue
breech-loading rifle
adopted by the United
States Army, or the
1892 Krag-Jorgensen, a
Norwegian-designed boltaction
rifle that the U.S.
Army adopted in 1892 as
the standard military longarm,
chambered in U.S.
caliber .30-40 Krag.
However, after examining
a closer image of
the bullet, Peters said the
length may indicate it
came from a hand-gun,
and the rings at the base
could be clues that it’s a
cast bullet. Was it made
on site at the Fort? Or
mass produced?
We are not certain the
type or age of the weapon
but would love to hear
from readers of The Lake
Forest Leader think about
this find.
And we all agree
that Tate, who used the
The bullet Tate Upham
found measured next to a
tape measure.
historical information of
the Fort, read the ground,
and found these artifacts,
deserves congratulations!
Adrienne Fawcett is marketing
manager of the Lake
Bluff History Museum. With
her husband, Don, she raised
Tate Upham found this old
bullet and casing at the
Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve.
He brought them
to the Lake Bluff History
Museum to see if he could
learn more about them.
Photos Submitted
three children (now in their
teens and 20s), who love
coming home to Lake Bluff.
THE NORTHBROOK TOWER
Thieves steal $20K worth
of merchandise from Louis
Vuitton
Five subjects with
scarves covering their
faces stole approximately
$20,000 worth of merchandise
on Jan. 6 from
the Louis Vuitton store at
Northbrook Court, according
to a press release from
the Northbrook Police Department.
The subjects, believed to
be teenagers, entered the
store around 7:30 p.m. The
group grabbed approximately
10 purses and ran
out of the store, according
to police.
Police said no one was
injured during the incident.
Witnesses reported the
robbery took only a matter
of seconds, according to
police. Additionally, witnesses
described the subjects
as male black teenagers.
The subjects then ran
to a white sedan, according
to police. Officers
observed the vehicle fleeing
at “a very high speed”
eastbound on Lake Cook
Road.
Village officials said the
fleeing vehicle was traveling
at such a high rate of
speed across the parking
lot that the patrol officer
tried to stop it for driving
recklessly, without knowing
that it was fleeing from
the grab and run. The officer
did not pursue the vehicle
because of the reckless
speed that the vehicle
was moving.
The Northbrook investigations
department is in
contact with Chicago police,
but it’s currently unknown
if this was related
to a reported Chicago incident
that occurred the
same night.
According to multiple
reports, the Louis Vuitton
store located in the 900
block of Michigan Avenue
was also robbed last night.
Chicago police reported
approximately $50,000
worth of merchandise was
stolen.
Northbrook Deputy
Chief Dan Strickland said
it would be “pure speculation”
at this point to say
if the department believes
the subjects were armed.
Reporting by Martin Carlino,
Contributing Editor. Full
story at NorthbrookTower-
Daily.com.
THE WILMETTE BEACON
Beloved Lad & Lassie set
to close doors in Wilmette
For the past 67 years,
Lad & Lassie, a familyfounded
and operated local
retailer, has provided
quality apparel and toys
along with the type of
community involvement
and customer service that
allowed them to stand the
test of time.
Despite its reputation for
excellence, Lad & Lassie
will permanently close
in the early part of 2020,
marking the end of an era.
The news comes on the
heels of a string of neighboring
businesses shutting
down their doors. For the
three Evans sisters who
manage day-to-day operations,
Patty, Mimi and
Zee, the sadness has been
soothed by their choice to
reflect on the history, the
joy and the memories that
can never be taken away.
“Over the years, we’ve
seen the shopping traffic
begin to fade and contemplated
when the end would
come and what our next
steps would be,” Mimi
Evans said. “We’ve had
months to go through the
personal grieving process
— the denial, the anger,
the sadness. Through it all,
we have chosen to look at
all that we have gained by
being business owners in
this wonderful community.
Lad & Lassie was built on
dignity and pride and we
intend to leave upholding
those same values.”
To fully understand the
contribution that Lad &
Lassie has made to the Village
of Wilmette, one must
know the backstory. The
shop was founded in 1953
by Patty, Mimi and Zee’s
grandmother, Beulah
Leipsiger. In 1959, their
father, Bill Evans, began
managing the business,
quickly earning a reputation
for being an ethical
and decisive leader.
Reporting by Alexa Burnell,
Freelance Reporter. Full
story at WilmetteBeacon-
Please see NFYN, 15