Robinson Woods Indian Burial Ground 2022 Investigation

Alexander Robinson was the English name of Chee-Chee-Pin-Quay, Chief of the Potawatomi, Chippewa and Ottawa Indian tribes. He lived in the Chicagoland area during the time of the infamous Fort Dearborn massacre. At the time of the massacre, April 15, 1812, it was Robinson who helped to save John Kinze, Captain and Mrs. Heald and their families from the bloodbath that resulted from the destruction of Fort Dearborn which was once located at the intersection of Michigan and Wacker Drives on the South side of the Chicago River.

It the treaty of Prairie du Chien in 1829, Alexander Robinson was granted two sections on the Rivere Aux Pleins above and adjoining the tract herein granted to Claude La Gramboise. Here he lived with his French wife, Catherine (Chevalier) and children. Mrs. Robinson died in 1860 and Robinson lived until 1872; one year after the great Chicago fire. An iron fence once surrounded the gravestones and that was erected in 1920. The actual headstones were removed by county officials in 1948. Actual blood descendants continued on the property until May 26, 1955 when their homestead mysteriously burned to the ground and, soon after, the property was bought by the Cook County Forest Division. Its occupants, Mrs. Katherine Boettcher, 89, a granddaughter of Chief Alexander Robinson; her son, Herbert, 53, and a friend, Tony Bistry, 48, were rescued from the burning building by firemen. There are a total of eleven people buried on this land including the family Cooney.

Address: Near East River Road and Lawrence, Norridge, IL 60706

Phone: 800-870-3666

Owner: Cook County Forest Preserve

Hauntings: There have been consistent reports since 1955 of strange events taking place at this site. It was also on October 16, 1955 that John and Anton Schuessler ages 13 and 11 respectively and Robert Peterson aged 14 left a northwest side bowling alley never to be seen alive again. Their naked bodies were found on the premises of Robinson Woods. It took some 39 years of tracking to finally bring the murderer to justice.

During research in 1974 and 1975, two researchers, Joe Trioni and Larry Garrett, carried out more than a dozen investigations in the area near the Robinson graves using various sophisticated recording devices and cameras. At one evening, an unusual recording was made between two small trees very near the grave sites of a dull repetitive sound. Later as the tape was played over and over again, it became quite apparent that the closest thing the sounds resembled was the beating of an Indian Tom-Tom. Needless to say there were no Indians or Indian Tom-Toms present that night.

Lights have been seen in the woods at night after the park has been closed for the evening, and they have been appearing for many years, but particularly in the last twenty years. Witnesses include motorists as they drive past the place, as well as neighbors and local police.

Another sound that has been heard out there is a chopping wood sound and it may be because the last of the family were always out there chopping wood at night to purchase foodstuffs and “firewater” or whiskey. Researchers have noted that people who die drunk or not in their right state of mind often make very good ghosts! So perhaps the drunken ghosts of the Robinson descendants still wander these woods at night.

A psychic smell has also been experienced very near the half-boulder that marks the positions were the Robinson's were buried. It’s been described as a scent of lilacs or sometimes violets and it’s often reported in the dead of winter when there are no flowers or trees in bloom! The odor appears to hover seven or eight feet up and witnesses claim to be able to sniff up into the fragrance. Strangely, even though there may be a stiff breeze, the odor stays in the same place and doesn’t drift away with the wind! I myself, while conducting a senior citizen, tour in 1990 around Halloween in the afternoon encountered the strange odor as did the entire group!

The GRS investigated Robinson Woods Indian Burial Grounds on May 19, 2022 and the team included: Paul Adams and Dale Kaczmarek

Equipment setup: Only hand-held equipment was used such as digital recorders and cameras, camcorder, Melmeter with telescopic probe, REM Epod

Experiments performed: One single Phasma Box session was conducted near the half-boulder and on a bench.

Personal experiences:

Dale Kaczmarek: Nothing out of the ordinary was experienced during the EVP session or our time there. The Phasma Box session was extremely inactive with no intelligible words or phrases coming through the entire time.

There were some animals present including deer and raccoon while we were there and some aircraft contamination going overhead every several minutes.

Evidence collected: Nothing!

Conclusions: Nothing at all was picked up during our EVP session. It was a beautiful day with clear skies and no discernable wind at all. In my opinion, sometimes it’s better to visit a location such as this after the sun sets because all the phenomena seems to happen after dark; i.e. strange lights, chopping wood sounds, etc.

In the past, we have investigated this site and have captured some unusual lights on 35mm film. Another visit especially after dark would be in order.