Frank Everett Stevens

“ As had been adroitly arranged, no doubt, by the survivors of the party of five, the foremost of the pursuers were suddenly plunged into Black Hawk’s presence, behind a growth of chaparral at the mouth of the creek, where this wily old savage had arranged his braves, few in number, but many more than the first white arrivals, and the instant the whites appeared the Indians sent up whoops, shrieks and howls calculated to frighten even a brave man. ”

“ My warriors fell around me. It began to look dismal. I saw my evil day at hand. The sun rose clear on us in the morning; at night it sunk in a dark cloud, and looked like a ball of fire. This was the last sun that shone on Black Hawk. He is now a prisoner to the white man, but he can stand the torture. He is not afraid of death. He is no coward. Black Hawk is an Indian. He has done nothing of which an Indian need be ashamed. He has fought the battles of his country against the white man, who came year after year to cheat his people and take away their lands. ”

“ We all act together. If some time our great men talk long and loud at our council fires, but shed one drop of white men’s blood, our young warriors, as thick as the stars of the night, will leap on board of our great boats, which fly on the waves, and over the lakes, swift as the eagle in the air; then penetrate the woods, make the big guns thunder, and the whole heavens red with the flames of the dwellings of their enemies. ”

“ Lewis Cass, pleading protection under it. “Make an example of him,” cried one. “The letter is a forgery,” cried others, and still others called him a spy, and the poor old fellow was in danger of death, when Captain Lincoln, “his face swarthy with resolution and rage,” stepped forward, even between the cowering Indian and the guns pointed at him, and shouted, “This must not be; he must not be shot and killed by us,” and the men recoiled. “This is cowardly on your part, Lincoln,” one man said; to which Captain Lincoln instantly replied, “If any man thinks I am a coward let him test it.” ”

“ Vrain regarded this as peculiarly propitious and at once assured his companions that no trouble need be feared from his friend, who had many times been an inmate of his house and partaken of his hospitality. Though he approached the Indian with outstretched hand, the overture of peace was spurned, and death to everyone sworn. In vain St. Vrain pleaded for his companions and urged his relations as agent and adopted brother. The Indians attempted in the most methodical and cold-blooded manner imaginable to murder every man present. ”

“ While there they witnessed a military display of such impressive interest as to evoke a speech from Black Hawk:
“My heart grew bitter against the whites, and my hands strong. I dug up the tomahawk, and led on my warriors to fight. I fought hard. I was no coward. Much blood was shed. But the white men were mighty. They were as many as the leaves of the forest. I and my people failed. I am sorry the tomahawk was raised. I have been a prisoner. I see the strength of the white men. They are many; very many. The Indians are but few. They are not cowards. They are brave, but they are few. ”

“ Black Hawk, take these jewels, a pair of topaz earrings, beautifully set in gold, for your wife or daughter, as a token of friendship, keeping always in mind that women and children are the favorites of the Great Spirit. These jewels are from an old man, whose head is whitened with the snows of seventy winters; an old man who has thrown down his bow, put off his sword, and now stands leaning on his staff, waiting the commands of the Great Spirit. ”

“ On the march and in camp stories were told; but Mr. Lincoln’s stories were not ribald recitals, told only to express a vicious conclusion. They were droll, quaint, homely perhaps, but full of humor; new and invariably to the point.
When men congregate it is natural to seek entertainment; the best adapted to surroundings, story-telling always finding the most favor, consequently the best story-tellers were soon discovered and courted. Thus in the camps in Beardstown and Rushville and on the march to Yellow Banks, the genius of Mr. Lincoln was discovered and quickly popularized. ”

“ Major Dement stood his ground, firing volley after volley with deadly effect into the advancing ranks of the enemy, but the Indians continued to pour from the timber until the whites realized that delay in their perilous position meant wilful death. Then they wheeled about, and a most exciting race for life began, with the Indians on both flanks fighting at every step and gaining at every foot of the chase. ”

“ This remark was construed by Black Hawk to mean that he must conform to the counsels of Keokuk, and at once his bad blood arose; all his old animosities mastered him, and in his impulsive way he cried:
“I am a man, an old man. I will not conform to the counsels of anyone. I will act for myself; no one shall govern me. I am old; my hair is gray. I once gave counsel to my young men. Am I to conform to others? I shall soon go to the Great Spirit, where I shall be at rest. What I said to our great father at Washington, I say again. I will always listen to him. ”

“ All that day the unequal struggle waged; the unarmed Iowas against their armed and powerful foes. Man after man went down before the fury of the victors. Home after home was made desolate from the blow of the tomahawk, the thrust of the spear and the ugly gash of the knife in the hands of the hideous, howling Sacs; very devils incarnate. Parties of twenty-five armed Sacs sought out a similar number of unarmed Iowas whose strength had been well nigh spent and slaughtered them. ”

“ Night was closing upon us in the heart of an Indian country, and the only thing to brighten our prospects, the light of our guns. Both officers and men conducted themselves with prudence and deliberation, until compelled to give ground to the superior foe, when the order for a retrograde movement was given, and our men formed in Old Man’s Creek. Here a desperate attempt was made by the Indians to outflank us and cut off our retreat, which proved ineffectual, some clubbing with their fire-locks, others using their tomahawks and spears. ”

“ To this Black Hawk replied:
“Our aged brother of the Senecas has spoken the words of a good and wise man. We are strangers to each other, though we have the same color, and the same Great Spirit made us all and gave us this country together. Brothers, we have seen how great a people the whites are. They are very rich and very strong. It is folly for us to fight against them. We shall go home with much knowledge. For myself, I shall advise my people to be quiet and live like good men. ”

“ If lands were inalienable by grant, how, then, could they have been alienated by conquest? The difference was in instance and not principle with Black Hawk, and he no doubt argued that the case was different with Santeaux and Iowas, because his was a party in interest. And so with the treaty of 1804; it was good if it helped Black Hawk and very bad if it contained anything good for the Americans.
That the Americans were intent on doing the best for the Indians which then could be done under all circumstances is everywhere apparent in the several treaties with the Sacs and Foxes. ”

“ The frightful plight of the settlers can never be realized by the present generation; neither can the actions of the British be justly comprehended in the face of present amity. Plotting destruction, Black Hawk was invariably found to the front, and while successful, he found no fault with the defense of the Americans. That remained for the time when he felt the heel of the conqueror, resenting his years of blood-shedding. Where one man is invariably the offender, it is safe to pronounce him an incorrigible quarreler. ”

“ Cornstalk, Logan and Pontiac were ambitious for their people, but Black Hawk never. Black Hawk said of Keokuk that the latter was a groveling sycophant, but Keokuk was the most powerful orator of his race, and, penetrating the inevitable destiny of the whites, he conformed to it and used his great genius to gain for his people the greatest good. While Black Hawk was stolidly plotting for war, Keokuk was planning to secure for his people good homes and larger annuities, and these he secured, to their very great benefit. Black Hawk’s prominence comes from notoriety alone. ”

“ Stillman’s fight was to be duplicated in large measure, and by Black Hawk, too, for he was personally leading his men. Just as the whites neared the edge of the timber, the enemy opened a galling fire, which killed two men and wounded a third; then, with hideous yells, a large force poured from the grove to the right and left, to flank the little band about Major Dement. The Indians, all well mounted, were stripped to the skin and painted. As they reached the bodies of the dead soldiers they clubbed, scalped and otherwise mutilated them in the usual way. ”

“ The chief of the white men and the chief of the red were alike objects of curiosity, the President holding a levee by day, the Hawk by night, in Niblo’s Gardens. Had a mammoth or elephant appeared, the mighty ones of the earth would have been eclipsed in public favor. ”

“ Davis, the strongest of the party, fought desperately by clubbing his rifle, but to no purpose against such frightful odds, for no sooner would he dispose of one antagonist than others would take his place with added ferocity, for Davis was the man they most of all hated and feared, and well he earned the distinction of being a fighter on that dreadful day. The ground about his dead body was torn and bloody, indicating a conflict second only to the hand-to-hand contest of gallant Captain Adams at Stillman’s defeat. The brains of children were dashed out against a stump ”

“ When, therefore, Black Hawk lent a willing ear to the British agent, accepted his presents and performed his murderous behests, which he did, he should have expected the awful consequences of defeat and annihilation which followed his years of hypocrisy, and accepted the Government’s final requital with gratitude, or at least Indian stolidity, instead of snarling at his fate and constantly bewailing the elevation of others over him who had loyally stood by the Americans and their Government in perilous times. ”

“ Those men who had fought in the war of 1812, without the assistance of the general Government, looked with profound contempt on the gold trappings of the regular officer and his tedious routine, and Governor Reynolds, diplomat that he was in handling western character, was put to the limit of his ability and endurance in smoothing over the difficulties which were needlessly created by this miserable spirit of independence. ”

“ While the Great Spirit above keeps my heart as it now is, I will be the white man’s friend. I will remain in peace. I will go to my people and speak good of the white man. I will tell them that they are as the leaves of the forest, very many and very strong, and that I will fight no more against them. ”

“ We think that in time to come you will be wise and that we shall be friends forever. You see that we are a great people–numerous as the flowers of the field, as the shells on the seashore, or the fish in the sea. ”

“ The Great Spirit made his heart big in council. We receive our brothers in friendship. Our hearts are good towards them. They once listened to bad counsel; now their ears are closed. I give my hand to them. When they shake it, they shake the hands of all. I will shake hands with them, and then I am done.”
Major Garland then stated that he wished it distinctly understood that their great father would hereafter acknowledge Keokuk as the principal chief of the Sac and Fox nation, and that he wished Black Hawk to listen and conform to his counsels. ”

“ In the spring of 1838 Black Hawk and his family removed to the vicinity of the chiefs of the Sacs and Foxes, on the Des Moines River, near Iowaville, the site of the famous battle where the Sacs annihilated the tribe of Iowas many years before. Here he had a comfortable cabin, furnished in humble imitation of the white settler’s on the frontier. As the whites moved into the country he formed their acquaintance and mingled very largely in their pleasures and pastimes with hearty good-will. ”

“ Though we were all at Prairie du Chien, how can we stop our young men? They go off while we are asleep and we know nothing of it. It was not by our consent that the young men struck the Menominees at Prairie du Chien. We have done all we could; but the young men will not listen to us.’
“Quash-quah-ing, the Jumping Fish, a British chief: ‘My Father and my Friends: All the chiefs are dead and the young men have told me to speak for them. You tell the truth about the treaty at Prairie du Chien, but the Menominees struck us first and we struck back. ”

“ On the evening of the 1st June Brown received a peremptory order from Mason to march to Chicago, which so mixed the plans made by the two officers that it became impossible to act intelligently. Such orders as the one to Brooks recalling him, and then ordering him to return to Williams, marching and countermarching to no purpose, as well as exhausting the men, had a most disastrous effect. Not only did men thereafter refuse to enlist, but, in the face of a campaign, many then in the ranks refused to leave their families in danger from such incompetence as had up to that moment been displayed. ”

“ As the savages dashed headlong into the advance column, or rather squad, of the whites, with the spirit and suddenness of an electric shock, the reckless pursuers realized their awful temerity, and the futility of fighting, even under careful protection and with the full strength of the battalions, what might be the 800 warriors known to belong to Black Hawk’s command. ”

“ Keokuk’s kind apology, followed by speeches from Col. William Davenport, then in command of Fort Armstrong, Wapello and Pash-e-pa-ho, lulled him back into a full realization of his helplessness, and again rising, he deliberately said:
“I feel that I am an old man. Once I could speak; now I have but little to say. To-day we met many of our brothers. We were glad to see them. I have listened to what my brothers have said; their hearts are good; they have been like Sacs since I left them; they have taken care of my wife and children, who had no wigwam. ”

“ Let the red men hunt, and take care of their families; but I hope they will not again raise their hands against their white brethren. We do not wish to injure you. We desire your prosperity and improvement; but if you again plunge your knives into the breasts of our people, I shall send a force which will severely punish you for all your cruelties. When you go back, listen to the counsels of Keokuk and the other friendly chiefs. Bury the tomahawk and live in peace with the frontiers. ”

“ The following morning the march was resumed with more vigor, and by dark Stillman’s battlefield was reached almost simultaneously with an express bearing tidings of the murder of fifteen persons at the Davis settlement, twelve miles above Ottawa, on Indian Creek, which empties into the Fox about ten miles above its mouth. The effect of this staggering news was immediately to place the army in the best possible state of defense against attack, which might be made by the confederated tribes of Sacs, Foxes, Winnebagoes and Pottowatomies at any moment, as was then feared. ”

“ They valiantly defended their homes and families and fought with the desperation known only to those who have waged such defenses against overpowering odds. One by one and dozen by dozen and score by score fell dead before the terrific attacks of the most terrible of Indian fighters, until there was none left to fill the gaps made in their ranks by the tomahawk and spear. Forty lodges were destroyed and every inhabitant save two squaws was put to death. Then, returning home, a great feast was made, at which Black Hawk exploited his personal valor to his friends. ”

“ At such an age, shorn of power, chafing under restrictions, disgruntled at the supremacy of his ancient enemy Keokuk, who had answered for his good behavior, the old man’s ambitions crushed, he was naturally a distressing object, evoking that pity which so universally appeals to an American and is so surely allowed to cover a multitude of sins. ”

“ That the Indian had many wrongs must not be denied, but that such wrongs should be transferred from those who suffered them to the personal account of Black Hawk, either entire or to any great extent, is a proposition too monstrous for sober consideration. The simpering casuist has strenuously endeavored to effect that transfer, even to the extent of adopting his statements about the liquor and the murder. ”

“ Agents were set to work over our vast frontier to foment insubordination among the Indians against American domination. These Indians were supplied with provisions and arms and incited openly to war against the whites and drive them back east of the mountains, and year after year they continued until the sickening horrors of the stake and scalping knife were sweeping the feeble settlements of the West from end to end. ”

“ She divided the women into two squads, one to mold bullets, the other to reload the muskets as they were discharged. Unfortunately, no time had been allowed to bring in a supply of water with which to quench thirst during the weary hours of that engagement. The day was hot. Confinement in close quarters of the fort, amidst the fumes of gunpowder and heat of the firing, brought on a state of suffering bordering upon exhaustion, but the almost fainting women, by their heroic disregard for danger and suffering, and by their words of cheer, propped the failing energies of the fighting men. ”

“ No just reason existed for this war; none of the tribes of these nations had trespassed on Sac territory or rights, and none had offended in any other particular. Black Hawk was piqued at his last miscarriage and he simply made war against these people for the sake of war, and bloody indeed it proved to be. During its continuance seven pitched battles were fought, together with numerous skirmishes, in all which more than one hundred of the enemy perished. Here again Black Hawk boasts of personally killing with his own hands thirteen of the bravest warriors in the enemy’s ranks. ”

“ Black Hawk, with his warriors at the village, poured a furious volley upon the defenseless inhabitants, completing the slaughter with tomahawk and scalping knife. The unarmed Iowas at the racecourse attempted to reach the village, two miles distant, but most of them were slain in their flight by Pash-e-pa-ho’s warriors. The survivors reached their village only to find it in flames and to behold their slaughtered friends in the midst of the devouring element. So great was the advantage of their assailants that the Iowas could make but a feeble resistance. ”