The first Indian tribe known to inhabit early Illinois was the Winnebago who were mound builders. They lived in villages and were basically an agricultural society. As time moved on, other Indian tribes moved into the area, notably the Potawatomi who settled in the area now known as Northfield Township. A succession of treaties had gradually wrested most of the Indian lands from the Native Americans. Finally, in the treaty of Chicago in 1833, the Indians gave up their last five million acres, thereby relinquishing all claims to northern Illinois and opening up the area to settlement by early pioneers,

First Pioneers
These first pioneers, who left their homes in Europe and England in the 1830s, were a brave, resourceful, persevering, and self- sufficient group of people. They had a strong will for freedom and were looking for an opportunity to establish themselves, Illinois, unlike the original 13 states, was a vast but beautiful sea of prairie grasses broken only by stands of oak trees which were called "groves." Traveling in those days was very difficult and often dangerous as the streams and treacherous swampy areas were unbridged, and the trails were winding and narrow. The Indians were, for the most part, friendly and even helpful so they did not present a great danger to these settlers.
After the 1833 Treaty of Chicago, a flood of early settlers came into the area. One of the first families to take up residence was that of George Heslington. They had been living at Fort Dearborn (Chicago) since their arrival from England, waiting to lay claim to their future home site. All early settlers were permitted to select 160 acres of land in the area now known and Niles and Maine Townships near the site of the present Glen View Club. Located on the Deerfield moraine, their farm was just north of a large Potawatomi village. Their baby daughter was the first white child born in the Glenview area and was a great pet of the friendly neighboring Potawatomi Indians. In 1836, Mrs. Heslingtons' parents, the Robert Dewes, arrived and settled near their daughter. Just as the Heslingtons followed the Indian's example of choosing high land, the early settlers in the Glenview area proper all located along the established Indian trails. Two were called the Little Fort and the Indian Lakes Trails, now Waukegan and Glenview Roads. Others settled along the Milwaukee Trail.