The town of Wheeling lies in the north part of Cook County, and is bounded on the north by Lake County, on the east by Northfield, on the south by Maine and Elk Grove, and on the west by Palatine. The highest land in the township is in the western portion, there being a gradual slope to the Desplaines River, which flows southward through the eastern tier of sections. The soil is a rich prairie loam. Originally the timber along the Desplaines River consisted of a belt about three-fourths of a mile in width, and was, perhaps, equally divided between Wheeling and Northfield. Probably the first settler in the town was a Mr. Sweet, whose first name cannot be ascertained. He arrived in March, 1833, selected a claim on Section 13, and built a cabin, in which he lived until the following October. As this was before the ratification of the treaty with the Pottawatomie Indians, with reference to their retirement from these lands, and as they were generally opposed to their occupancy by white men, Mr. Sweet must have been on especially friendly relations with them in order to remain there, and yet his desire to remain seems not to have been excessively strong, for in October he sold his claim to George. Strong for $60. Mr. Strong, before finally deciding to buy this claim, consulted Colonel Thomas V. Owen, Indian Agent at Chicago, as to the propriety of moving onto it, and as to the probable results.