Sauganash

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For the neighborhood, see Sauganash

Sauganash (c. 1780 — September 28, 1841), also known as Chief Sauganash, or Billy Caldwell, was a half-Potawatomi, half-European leader born in Canada around 1780. His father was William Caldwell, an Irish immigrant and British soldier.

He settled near Chicago in about 1820. As a result of an 1830 treaty with the U.S. government, he was granted a land tract of about 1,600 acres (6.5 km²) north of Chicago. Sauganash eventually sold the land and moved to Iowa where he served as spokesmen for Potawatomi interests. The village along Indian Creek where he died in 1841 eventually became the modern city of Council Bluffs. Most of the Sauganash land eventually was annexed by the city of Chicago in 1889. The Chicago neighborhood Sauganash is today located on a portion of the Sauganash land. In the Potawatomi language, the name "Sauganash" (Zhagenash) means "Englishman."

The Sauganash treaty was signed under the "Old Treaty Elm," which stood until 1933. The approximate location of the Old Treaty Elm in the Sauganash neighborhood of Chicago is today marked with a historical marker.

The Sauganash neighborhood is located on the northwest side of Chicago and is bordered by Devon to the North, Bryn Mawr to the South, and Cicero to the West. The eastern boundary is an unused railroad spur.

Sauganash died in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on September 28, 1841.