Early Life
Hubbard was born in Windsor, Vermont, to Elizur Hubbard and Abigail Sage Hubbard. When his father, a lawyer, lost his money around 1812 in speculative ventures, he took the family north and settled in Montreal. In 1818, Hubbard was indentured to John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company for five years at $120 per year.
Hubbard first arrived in Chicago in 1818 as a member of a brigade led by Antoine Deschamps. Hubbard carried an introduction to John Kinzie, a trader in Chicago, whose son, Morris, had befriended Hubbard. Although Hubbard eventually became a major booster of Chicago and one of its leading citizens, he wouldn't make his permanent home in the city until 1834.
On several trips throughout Illinois, he became the adopted son of Chief Waba of the Kickapoo and married Watseka, niece of Chief Tamin of the Kankakee. After he walked for 75 miles in a single night to warn the town of Danville of an impending raid by Indians, he earned the nickname "Pa-pa-ma-ta-be," or "Swift-Walker." When a local Indian tribe questioned his ability to perform this feat, he challenged their champion walker to a race. Hubbard's challenger lost by several miles and was unable to move the next day. Hubbard seemed to be unaffected.
Read more about this topic: Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard
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