Black Hawk War

“ Black Hawk was first presented to the President, then the Prophet, who remarked:
“We expected to return immediately to our people. The war in which we have been involved was occasioned by our attempting to raise provisions on our own lands, or where we thought we had a right so to do. We have lost many of our people, as well as the whites. Our tribes and families are now exposed to the attacks of our enemies, the Sioux, and the Menominees. ”

“ 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. ”

“ In reviewing the Black Hawk War the student of history is forced to the conclusion that it was caused by the white man's avarice and determination to swindle the Indian out of his birthright, the finest lands of Wisconsin, Missouri and Illinois, for the usual mess of pottage. It began by the deliberate murder of the bearer of a white flag of truce (which is respected by every civilized nation on earth) , and it ended in an indiscriminate massacre of men, women and helpless children, while the chief and warriors were suing for peace, and actually trying to surrender. ”

“ 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 arose, gathered his blanket around him, and stalked out of the council room. On the following morning he was again in his seat, and when the council was opened, he arose and said, "My father, you inquired yesterday, "who is Black Hawk? why does he sit among the chiefs?" I will tell you who I am. I am a Sac, my father was a Sac—I am a warrior and so was my father. Ask those young men, who have followed me to battle, and they will tell you who Black Hawk is—provoke our people to war, and you will learn who Black Hawk is." ”

“ 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. ”

“ The enemy undertook by every art known to savage tactics to lure the men into an ambush. To refute Black Hawk’s constant protestations of peace, this scouting party of his was discovered to be actively recruiting among the Pottowatomies and Winnebagoes. The attempts to decoy the messengers into the Indian camp were diplomatically avoided, and so was a pitched battle, which could only have resulted in annihilation of the whites. ”

“ But no effort was made to rally at the encampment, and all the baggage of our troops—blankets, saddle-bags, camp equipage and provisions,—fell into the hands of the Indians. Black Hawk finding that there was now no alter [Pg 156] native, determined to fight. Indignant at the attack upon his flag of peace—encouraged by his signal success in putting to flight, a force vastly superior in numbers to his own—and strengthened by the booty—especially the provisions—he had taken, he assembled his braves and prepared for an active border war. ”

“ Birth of Black Hawk—Early adventures—Battles with the Osages and Cherokees—Death of his father—Interview with Lieutenant Pike—Attack upon Fort Madison—Joins the British in the late war—Marches to lake Erie—Returns home after the attack upon Fort Stephenson—Murder of his adopted son—Battle of the Sink-hole near Cap au Gris—Treaty of peace at Portage des Sioux in 1816.
Black Hawk is a remarkable instance of an individual, in no wise gifted with any uncommon physical, moral or intellectual endowments, obtaining, by the force of circumstances, the most extraordinary celebrity. ”

“ It is questionable whether Black Hawk possesses any marked military talents, although during his contest with the United States, it was common to represent him as an able warrior, who by the elo [Pg 232] quence and fluency of his harangues, commanded the unlimited confidence of his band. He has, most probably, been overrated both for his eloquence and his skill in the battle field. He is no doubt a man of courage, and seems, from early life, to have had a strong predisposition for war. ”

“ It presents in a connected form, and as the author trusts, with historic accuracy, one link in the great chain of political relations between the United States and the Indian tribes of North America. Every day is increasing the interest and magnitude of these relations, and any effort to preserve the facts with which they are associated, would seem to be worthy of public consideration. Black Hawk may die, his name be forgotten, and the smoke of his wigwam be seen no more, but the "Black Hawk war" will [Pg 76] long form a page of deep interest, in the history of this country. ”

“ Menaced now by Black Hawk, who had so recently solemnly promised to behave himself for all time, every frontier family stood in danger of the tomahawk. Had the united Sacs and Foxes levied war against the whites, the wavering tribes from Illinois north might have joined them and devastated the country and desolated every hearth.
Black Hawk harangued the Indians with all his energy, firing them to a pitch of excitement he had not expected and compelling Keokuk then and there to promise to lead them to war ”

“ 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. ”

“ Against the encroachments of the whites and their undeniable injustice, the Indians opposed their own methods of making war. The extermination of families, the lack of mercy, even the blood-thirstiness of the redmen were among their customary methods of making war and were universally recognized as such by their enemies of their own color. Black Hawk assuredly was a patriot, courageously fighting the battles of his own people. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The Sacs as a nation had no quarrel with the Cherokees. But immediately he returned from his war upon the unsuspecting Osages, Black Hawk collected another party and moved down the river against them. In due season the enemy’s country was reached and invaded, but, roam as they would, no more than five unknown people could be found, four men and one squaw. The men, after a short detention, were released, and the squaw was taken back to Black Hawk’s village on Rock River. ”

“ The Great Spirit has whispered among the tree tops in the morning and evening and says that Black Hawk's days are few, and that he is wanted in the spirit land. He is half dead, his arm shakes and is no longer strong, and his feet are slow on the war path. Tell him all this, and tell him, too,' continued the untutored hero of the forest, with trembling emotion and marked emphasis, 'that Black Hawk would have been a friend to the whites, but they would not let him, and that the hatchet was dug up by themselves and not by the Indians. ”

“ The contest with Black Hawk and his party, destroyed the lives of four or five hundred Indian men, women and children—about two hundred citizens of the United States—and cost the government near two millions of dollars! Such are the results of a war commenced and waged by a great nation, upon a remnant of poor ignorant savages;—a war which had its origin in avarice and political ambition, which was prosecuted in bad faith and closed in dishonor. ”

“ 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. ”

“ On one occasion we find this same Colonel Hamilton, who had contracted two hundred steers to be delivered to the Government agency at Green Bay, Wisconsin, driving them from Springfield, Illinois, through Chicago, and thence northward to his destination. In the same month he was operating “Hamilton’s diggings,” and subsequently he was defending a noted Mormon at Nauvoo, Illinois, charged with the commission of a crime, and yet again he was commanding a band of Menominee Indians in the Black Hawk War; always strenuous and always unqualifiedly successful. ”

“ None but hostile Indians were about the fort, and if the young man was unknown and killed as related, he was certainly considered an enemy. If known as the adopted son of Black Hawk, then openly fighting the Americans, it was a fair presumption that he got no permission to hunt and was considered as taken red-handed. The community inside Fort Madison was in a serious mood those days and in no condition to receive Indians with rifles on advantageous terms. Black Hawk arrived at his village filled with indignation, as he has said. ”

“ He returned home; but instead of behaving himself he joined Pash-e-pa-ho in a war which robbed the Iowas of their lands and exterminated their tribes, so that thereafter their nation became a tradition. If Black Hawk should be heard to complain of the loss of his lands to the Americans for a trifling price, how much more should others whom he had wantonly robbed and whose kin he had murdered be heard? Old men, young men, old women, young women and children in swaddling clothes were murdered in the most brutal manner ”

“ 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. ”

“ Your squaws have made them presents, and you have given them plenty to eat and drink. The memory of your friendship will remain till the Great Spirit says it is time for Black Hawk to sing his death song. Brother, your houses are as numerous as the leaves upon the trees, and your warriors like the sands upon the shore of the big lake that rolls before us. The red man has but few houses, and few warriors, but the red man has a heart that throbs as warmly as the heart of his white brother. ”

“ 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. ”

“ That there were no soldiers there to fight, but where he was going to send us there were a number of soldiers, and if we defeated them the Mississippi country should be ours!” Here Black Hawk displays his besetting weakness–incapacity to comprehend the ethics of a cause or situation.
Leaving Green Bay immediately, the troops marched past Chicago and without event joined the British forces at Detroit. His first experience in an open fight with the Americans caused surprise, as he stated: “The Americans fought well and drove us with considerable loss. ”

“ They need both physical and intellectual excitation, and having none of the resources which mental and moral culture throws open to civilized man, they seek it in making war upon each other or upon the wild animals which share with them the woods and the prairies.
Subsequently to the treaty of 1816, and perhaps in that year, the government of the United States built Fort Armstrong, upon Rock Island, in the Mississippi river, and but a few miles from the village where Black Hawk and his band resided. ”