Chicago

Chicago is one of the major metropolitan areas of the United States of America, in the state of Illinois. As the second-most populous city in America for most of the entire 20th century, Chicago grew from humble beginnings to being the major city of the Midwest. The city was built around where the Chicago River connects to Lake Michigan, and canals connected the Chicago River to the Mississippi River, allowing for waterborne trade toward the Atlantic via the Great Lakes and via the Mississippi River. After a devastating fire in 1871, the city rebuilt and modernized, becoming a major hub for European immigrants (especially Irish and Poles), and later a center for African-Americans migrating out of the South.

In the summer of 1919, Chicago erupted with race riots, in which CJ Williams, later an acquaintance of Indiana Jones, participated. When Prohibition came into effect in 1920, Chicago became known for its organized crime under Al Capone.

Key points of interest in Chicago during the adventures of Indiana Jones include the Field Museum (founded 1893), the Chicago Water Tower, the University of Chicago, jazz clubs and speakeasies.

History[]

By 1920, Indiana Jones had moved to Chicago to study archaeology at the University of Chicago. While there, he enjoyed listening to jazz, and worked his way up as a waiter at Colosimo's Restaurant so he could listen to live jazz. In April, he made friends with Sidney Bechet, who played at Colosimo's, and who showed him around the jazz scene in Chicago. In May, his boss, Jim Colosimo was murdered, and Indy, along with his roommate Eliot Ness and reporter Ernest Hemingway helped solve the case, only to find out that the police were siding with the organized crime outfits, led by new arrival Al Capone.^[1]

In 1927, Indy returned to Chicago after the death of his first wife. He planned on visiting his old friend Jack Shannon, a jazz musician who ran a nightclub called The Nest, but found himself again caught up with Capone, Russian spies, which led him overseas - and on a quest for Noah's Ark.^[2]

In the 1920s and 30s, Chicago underwent a major economic boom, with many of the classic buildings of downtown being constructed, including the Wrigley Building, the Tribune Tower, the Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium.