Congress and the President gave to the enterprise the stamp of official sanction, and the State Department formally invited the nations of the world to participate in the great exhibition. In response no less than forty-nine nations and colonies sent prompt acceptances, and will accordingly make exhibits, showing the advances made in the arts and sciences and the progress generally of each in every field of human endeavor. These are: Argentine Republic, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Danish West Indies, Equador, France, Algeria, French Guiana, Germany, Great Britain, Barbadoes, British Columbia, British Guiana, Honduras, Cape Colony, Ceylon, Jamaica, New South Wales, New Zealand, Trinidad, Guatemala, Hayti, British Honduras, Japan, Mexico, Dutch Guiana, Dutch West Indies, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Persia, Peru, Russia, Salvador, San Domingo, Siam, Spain, Cuba, Porto Rico, Turkey, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zanzibar. Of course all the States and Territories of the Union will also be fully represented, with displays that will surpass by far those made at Philadelphia in 1876.
It is fitting to take at least a brief glance at the extraordinary city in which this latest and greatest Universal Exhibition is to be held--extraordinary both in its history and in its present status. The first white man who trod its soil was the famous French missionary, Father Marquette. He went thither in 1673. Later, La Salle, Joliet, Hennepin, and others visited the region; but none of them made any settlement there. Indeed, while Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and other cities were attaining great size and almost venerable age, the site of this Western metropolis remained a wilderness. In 1804, however, the Government established a frontier military post at the mouth of the Chicago River, calling it Fort Dearborn. The little garrison remained there eight years and then, in 1812, was annihilated by the Indians, though a few other white settlers survived and held their ground. The next attempt at settlement occurred in 1829, when James Thompson surveyed the site for a proposed town. On August 10th, 1833, the settlement was incorporated, there being twenty-eight legal voters. On March 4th, 1837, a city charter was obtained, and thenceforth the growth of the place was rapid and substantial beyond all imagination. In 1840 the population was 4,479; in 1850 it was 28,269; in 1860 it was 112,172; and 1870 it was 298,977.