author

Linai T. (Linai Taliaferro) Helm

d. 1838

A survivor of the Fort Dearborn massacre, this early 19th-century army officer left behind one of the firsthand accounts that shaped how the event was remembered. His brief but vivid narrative remains closely tied to the early history of Chicago.

1 Audiobook

The Fort Dearborn Massacre

The Fort Dearborn Massacre

by Linai T. (Linai Taliaferro) Helm

About the author

Linai Taliaferro Helm was an American army lieutenant remembered for his account of the Fort Dearborn massacre of August 15, 1812. Library of Congress records identify him as Linai T. (Linai Taliaferro) Helm and give his death year as 1838.

He is best known as the author of The Fort Dearborn Massacre, a narrative written in 1814 and later published in book form with editorial material by Nelly Kinzie Gordon in 1912. The work is valued as a survivor's account of one of the most famous frontier conflicts connected with early Chicago.

Reliable biographical details beyond that appear to be limited in the sources I could confirm here, so it is safest to remember him chiefly as a military witness whose writing preserved a personal view of a major event in Illinois history.