ABSTRACT
In 1891 the population of the metropolitan area of Chicago was approximately 1,300,000; today it is about 4,000,000, or over three times that of 1891. Of that population in 1891 a very large percentage had been born in other communities and consisted for the most part of people of a pioneering character, people who had possessed the courage of starting life in new surroundings, willing to meet hardships and co hew for themselves and their families an independence and a livelihood. One of the first golf courses laid out in the Chicago area was at Clenview in 1896 and shortly after that the Onwentsia course at Lake Forest, but it was then only a game for the rich. Strange as it may seem, horseback riding and swimming in or sailing on Lake Michigan were only moderately indulged in.
