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THE
Black Hawk War

INCLUDING A REVIEW OF

BLACK HAWK’S LIFE

Illustrated with upward of three hundred rare and interesting

portraits and views

BY

FRANK E. STEVENS

FRANK E. STEVENS

1205 Chamber of Commerce Bldg.

Chicago . . Illinois

1903

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1903, by

FRANK E. STEVENS

in the office of the Librarian of Congress at

Washington, D.C.

Dear Mother–

This book represents long years of patient toil from which a corresponding return is not expected; it has been a labor of love. To whom, then, should it be dedicated but yourself, who spent so many toilsome years to rear its author, who may never repay a fraction of the debt he owes you.

F.E.S.

INTRODUCTION

In the autumn of 1871, I began the collection of materials for the book which is just completed; at a time when many original sources existed from which to draw. Since that time, no opportunity wherein I might see and talk with persons who were in the Black Hawk campaigns has been lost, and from those interviews I have been able to gather information, old letters, commissions, muster rolls and papers obtainable by no possible system of correspondence.

I have endeavored to be thorough, and to be thorough has required space. I deplore the necessity which forbids an expression of thanks to each individual by name who has contributed documents, valuable portraits and information from which this work has been constructed. I thank them all as generously as I have borrowed, which has been much. Especially must I thank Mrs. Catherine Buckmaster Curran, of Alton, Illinois, who furnished me with a complete set of papers, without which I could never have finished my work as it should be finished.

Mrs. Colonel William Preston Johnston, of New Orleans, who, at great inconvenience and sacrifice of time, secured a copy of the journal kept by Lieut. Albert Sidney Johnston during his service in those campaigns.

Dr. J.F. Snyder, Virginia, Illinois, President State Historical Society.

Prof. B.F. Shambaugh, Iowa City, Iowa.

Mr. R.G. Thwaites, Madison, Wisconsin.

Charles Aldrich, Des Moines, Iowa.

Miss Caroline M. McIlvaine, Librarian Chicago Historical Society, Chicago.

CONTENTS

List of Portraits and Other Illustrations

BLACK HAWK.

CHAPTER I.

Birth–Personal Description and Character of Black Hawk–Not a Chief–Made a Brave–Expeditions Against the Osages–Death of Py-e-sa–Period of Mourning–Expedition Against the Osages–Expedition Against the Cherokees–Expedition Against the Chippewas, Osages and Kickapoos–The First Appearance of the Americans.

Black Hawk’s name, as given in his autobiography, was Ma-ka-tai-she-kia-kiak[^[1]], and, without reference to the many renditions of it by various writers, is the version that will be adopted in this work as nearest authentic. He was born in the year 1767 at the Sac or Sauk village, located on the north bank of Rock River in the State of Illinois, about three miles above its confluence with the Mississippi. His father, Py-e-sa, a grandson of Na-na-ma-kee or Thunder (a descendant of other Thunders), was born near Montreal, Canada, where the Great Spirit was reputed in Indian lore to have first placed the great Sac nation. Black Hawk was a full blood Sac, five feet eleven inches tall in his moccasins; of broad but meager build[^[2]] and capable of great endurance. His features were pinched and drawn, giving unusual prominence to the cheek bones and a Roman nose, itself pronounced. The chin was sharp. The mouth was full and inclined to remain open in repose. His eyes were bright, black and restless, glistening as they roamed during a conversation. Above these rested no eyebrows. The forehead was given the appearance of unusual fullness and height from the fact that all hair was plucked from the scalp, with the single exception of the scalp lock, to which, on occasions of state, was fastened a bunch of eagle feathers. In his later years it was his boast that he had worn the lock with such prominence to tempt an enemy to fight for it and to facilitate its removal should he be slain in the encounter. This statement, however, must be received as a boast and nothing more, because among the Sacs the custom of plucking from the scalp all hairs save the scalp lock was general and not confined to Black Hawk’s redoubtable person, as he would have us believe. J.C. Beltrami, the Italian traveler, who ascended the Mississippi in 1823, stopping at all the Indian villages, particularly Black Hawk’s upon Rock River, which he reached May 10th, has this to say, which is interesting: “The faces of the Saukees, although exhibiting features characteristic of their savage state, are not disagreeable, and they are rather well made than otherwise. Their size and structure, which are of the middle kind, indicate neither peculiar strength nor weakness. Their heads are rather small; that part called by French anatomists voute orbitaire has in general no hair except a small tuft upon the pineal gland, like that of the Turks; this gives the forehead an appearance of great elevation. Their eyes are small and their eyebrows thin; the cornea approaches rather to yellow, the pupil to red; they are the link between those of the orang-outang and ours. Their ears are sufficiently large to bear all the jewels, etc., with which they are adorned; two foxes’ tails dangled from those of the Great Eagle. I have seen others to which were hung bells, heads of birds and dozens of buckles, which penetrated the whole cartilaginous part from top to bottom. Their noses are large and flat, like those of the nations of eastern Asia; their nostrils are pierced and ornamented like their ears. The maxillary bones, or pommettes, are very prominent. The under jaw extends outwards on both sides. Their mouths are rather large; their teeth close set, and of the finest enamel; their lips a little inverted. Their necks are regularly formed; they have large bellies and narrow chests, so that their bodies are generally larger below than above. Their feet and hands are well proportioned. Except the tuft on the head, which we have already remarked, they have no hair on any part of the body. Books which deal greatly in the marvelous convert this into an extraordinary phenomenon, but the fact is that, from a superstition common to all savages, they pluck it out, and, as they begin at an early age and use the most perservering means for its extirpation, nothing is left but a soft down.”

With this personal description of Black Hawk, it may be well to add the following, published in the “Annals of Iowa,” 3rd series, Vol. 4, page 195: “Bones of Black Hawk.–These bones, which were stolen from the grave about a year since, have been recovered and are now in the Governor’s office. The wampum, hat,[^[4]] etc., which were buried with the old chief, have been returned with the bones. It appears that they were taken to St. Louis and there cleaned; they were then sent to Quincy to a dentist to be put up and wired previous to being sent to the East. The dentist was cautioned not to deliver them to anyone until a requisition should be made by Governor Lucas. Governor Lucas made the necessary requisition and they were sent up a few days since by the Mayor of Quincy and are now in the possession of the Governor. He has sent word to Na-she-as-kuk, Black Hawk’s son, or to the family, and some of them will probably call for them in a few days. Mr. Edgerton, the phrenologist, has taken an exact drawing of the skull, which looks very natural, and has also engraved it on a reduced scale, which will shortly appear on his new chart. Destructiveness, combativeness, firmness and philoprogenitiveness are, phrenologically speaking, very strongly developed. Burlington Hawk Eye, Dec. 10, 1840.”[^[3]]

An intimate knowledge of Black Hawk is denied us. The little known of him prior to 1832 is derived from less than a dozen sources, the most important being his autobiography;[^[5]] the others, nearly all military, are to be found in treaties and the records of the war department. A few settlers only knew him, because settlers about his haunts in those days were exceedingly scarce. And so it has come to pass that his character has been universally judged by the contact with him during the last five or six years of his long life, while he was in a sense a captive, brooding over his fallen estate, while the drapery of an eternal evening was fast falling about him. 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. Those few last years have been thus carelessly permitted to become the monument to the man, and those who drove him from power have been harshly judged or jocularly denominated “carpet soldiers,” as much as to say the pioneers had never suffered hardships nor endured wrongs. Justice to those whose wives and children had been butchered, whose fathers and brothers had been burned at the stake, demands that all the truth be told and the reason given why those settlers, infuriated at the loss of two successive crops from Black Hawk’s perfidy, finally drove his band into the Mississippi River at the mouth of the Bad Axe and almost annihilated it.

It has been written that he possessed a mind of unusual strength, but slow and plodding, with little genius and few talents to manage a great enterprise in war.[^[6]] The influence to sustain such a paradox, as well as kindred irregularities and disorders of the man’s mind, may be attributed to the fact that he was a confirmed hypochondriac, morbidly regarding as frivolous everything save war. He was discontented and reckless, envious of others with greater influence or name, and in meeting questions in or out of the council with such men as Keokuk he was churlish to a degree unless his individual will ruled. While it must candidly be owned that the whites have been guilty of the most revolting injustices to other Indians, notably Shabona, the same cannot be pleaded for Black Hawk. He was found making and breaking engagements and treaties[^[7]] the greater part of his very long life, and then, when retribution was imminent, he hoisted flags of truce down to August 2d, 1832, when his power for further mischief was forever crushed.

The reputation which he has established in Indian annals comes not from any sacrifice he made for his people, for never in his life did he make one. Neither comes it from his struggles for an oppressed race, for he never conceived a solitary scheme for its amelioration. He had never a lofty aspiration for his nation. His every venture was made for personal aggrandizement or popularity. Tecumseh dreamed of a great confederation; not to become a leader. 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.

In his various conflicts with the whites he was invariably the aggressor. The unfortunate affair which resulted in the death of his so-called adopted son cannot be, by any conceivable logic, tortured into an exception, as we shall presently see. After the treaty of 1804 he and his band were permitted to remain unmolested upon the ceded lands year after year and decade after decade, a license rarely allowed and, as it proved, a thoroughly mistaken policy. He received his yearly annuities and retained the lands for which the annuities were given, literally eating his cake and keeping it. His passions were many, but the consuming passion of his life was hatred of the Americans, a hatred without cause and as unjustifiable and unreasonable as man’s baser passions are always found to be. Yet this may not be surprising, fed as he was by his devouring gloom and restless, war-like spirit. The mantle of charity has many a time before and since covered graver faults; so let it be with Black Hawk’s, for it is said of him that in his domestic life he was a kind husband and father, and in his transactions with his people he was upright and honest,[^[8]] if he was not ambitious for their elevation.

Black Hawk was not a chief of the Sac nation.[^[9]] He was simply a brave. His father was the tribal medicine man, and whatever standing Black Hawk may have secured was derived from his personal bravery and daring as a warrior, which have never been questioned. Possessed, as we have seen, of a martial spirit, he was ever ready and eager to lead war parties of young companions to battle, and one or two engagements alone were sufficient firmly to establish him in that leadership which bravery fitted him to hold over his followers in war.

At fifteen, having distinguished himself by wounding an enemy, he was permitted to paint and wear feathers and join the rank of the Braves.[^[10]] About the year 1783 he united in an expedition against the Osages and had the fortune to kill and scalp one of the enemy, for which youthful act of valor he was for the first time permitted to mingle in the scalp-dance. As one exploit followed another his desire for blood became insatiable, and from his own account, the number of the enemy slain by him staggers credulity.

A short time after the ’83 tragedy–“a few moons,” as he puts it–Black Hawk was leader of a party of seven which attacked a band of one hundred Osages, killed one of their number and retreated without loss, Black Hawk taking the credit for this fatality to his personal valor. His taste for war, coupled with his prowess, attracted notice from others, and very presently he was found marching at the head of one hundred and eighty braves against the Osage village on the Missouri. Finding it deserted, the greater number of his young followers became dissatisfied, abandoned the enterprise and returned home, but Black Hawk continued, and, with but five followers, came upon the Osages, killed and scalped one man and a boy and then returned home. In consequence of this mutiny he has told us he was not again able to raise sufficient force to move against the Osages until his nineteenth year, during which interim, it was claimed, the Osages committed many outrages on his nation.

In 1786 his restless spirit had planned another attack of a retaliatory nature against the Osages. Setting out with two hundred followers, he met a party of the enemy about equal in strength, which for a time stubbornly resisted Black Hawk’s attack, but, unable to maintain an unequal contest with the fierce Sac fighters, the Osages were finally routed and the band almost annihilated. One hundred of them were killed outright and the remnant which remained was left to be scalped while helplessly wounded, or driven from the country, while, on the other hand, Black Hawk’s loss was but nineteen men. Six of the enemy were killed by Black Hawk–five men and one squaw–and in alluding to this he adds these words: “I had the good fortune to take all their scalps.” In recording his glorious enterprise his interpreter doubtless insisted that the murder of a female by a great warrior was not creditable, for, once the enormity of his offense is cited, he pleads in extenuation that the squaw was accidentally killed; yet he scalped her.

The severe cost to the Osages of this battle brought about a treaty of peace between the belligerents which lasted for a considerable period, as peaceful times between Indian nations seem then to have been reckoned.

The stormiest periods of Black Hawk’s life were all born of tranquil times, and this interval of peace served to incubate a plan of campaign against his ancient and inveterate enemy, the Cherokees, which was to be fraught with consequences more serious than all his former campaigns together.

Py-e-sa, Black Hawk’s father, the hereditary medicine man of his tribe, had held the medicine bag for many years and his ability as a discreet, fearless and upright man cannot be controverted. Regarding a campaign by the young men so far from home as hazardous in the extreme, he joined this expedition, and with his people paddled his canoe night and day down the Mississippi River until the enemy was reached upon the Merameg River, south of St. Louis, in vastly superior forces. The battle which followed was stubbornly waged, but in it, as in so many others, the ferocity of the attack put the Cherokees to flight, leaving twenty-eight of their number dead upon the field, while the Sacs lost but seven braves. But one of those seven was Py-e-sa, whose loss was never thereafter supplied to the great Sac nation. Had he been spared to treat of subsequent questions with the whites, his moderation had unquestionably sustained Keokuk’s position and the campaigns of 1831 and 1832, with their trains of slaughter, would have been averted. In this engagement Black Hawk himself killed three outright and wounded many more.

By the death of Py-e-sa, Black Hawk fell heir to the medicine bag, with its attendant responsibility. He immediately returned to his village, blackened his face and remained tranquil for the succeeding five years of his life, with no more stimulating employment than hunting, fishing and meditation. During this period of inaction, Black Hawk maintains, the Osages were constantly harassing his people by incursions into his country, carrying with each invasion a predatory warfare extremely distressing and galling. These became so frequent and offensive that, as Black Hawk has told us, “the Great Spirit took pity on them” (the Sacs), upon which event he took to the field. Here, at the head of a small party, he overtook a few struggling Osages, so feeble that he simply made them prisoners and handed them over to the Spanish father at St. Louis. With this famous act of clemency he continued his plan of total destruction of the offending Osages.

About the year 1800, the Iowa nation, having accumulated many grievances against the Osages, made common cause with the Sacs for the purpose of waging a war of extermination. Raising a force of about one hundred, which joined the Sac forces, numbering now about five hundred more, the two allies marched upon the unsuspecting Osages, who were unarmed and wholly unprepared for defense. 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. In this engagement he killed seven men and two boys with his own hand.

During those five years of meditation following his father’s death resentment had but slumbered. They killed his father, ’tis true, but it had been done defending themselves. 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 futility of this campaign rankled in Black Hawk’s heart for a time, and to recoup his lost, or at least suspended reputation, he planned, in the year 1803, about the ninth moon, the most extensive campaign of his life against the combined forces of the Chippewas, Osages and Kaskaskias. 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. His ferocity in these engagements is the best evidence for the statement that the glory of Black Hawk was placed above every other consideration.

In 1763 France ceded Louisiana to Spain, though Senor Rious, the Spanish agent, did not formally take possession of St. Louis and the upper Louisiana country until 1768, and even then St. Ange, the French Governor, continued to perform official acts until 1770. In 1800 Napoleon took it away again, retaining it until 1803, when it was purchased by the United States.[^[11]] During the Spanish domination Black Hawk had been a periodical visitor to St. Louis, accepting frequent presents and forming what might be termed a devotion to the Governor, whom he designated as his “Spanish Father.”

After the conclusion of his last war, he paid this Spanish father a friendly visit at St. Louis. Spanish and French domination had ended and the Americans were just then taking possession of the country, much to his regret and, as might be imagined, disgust. Here are his comments: “Soon after the Americans arrived I took my band and went to take leave for the last time of our father. The Americans came to see him also. Seeing them approach, we passed out of one door as they entered another and immediately started in our canoes for our village on Rock River, not liking the change any more than our friends appeared to at St. Louis. On arriving at St. Louis, we were given the news that strange people had taken St. Louis and that we should never see our Spanish father again. This information made all our people sorry.”

CHAPTER II.

British Intrigue Against the Frontiers–Hatred of the Americans–Treaty of 1804.

By the treaty of Paris, Sept. 3, 1783, Great Britain covenanted to surrender certain western forts which were of great strategic importance to the Americans in protecting the frontier from Indian incursions and also in dealing with such as were disposed to treat honorably with the Government. The compact was solemnly made and signed, but, disgruntled from the loss of her colonies, the British government sent secret instructions to its garrisons to retain these forts, and in consequence not one of them was surrendered. Nor was this the only violation by the British of their engagements. 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.

France and Spain, both with colonial possessions to the west, while gratified to see England stripped of her possessions, were suspected of aiding the design of the British to restrict American settlements to the shores of the Atlantic. Spain claimed exclusive ownership of the Mississippi and commerce upon her waters by Americans was prohibited. The “dark and bloody ground” of Kentucky, long the scene of carnage, was made the first scene of British intrigue, where the atrocities of the Indians were the most frightful in history. The tribes of Ohio and Indiana, which were in the league, penetrated the settlements of the whites, deluging the land with the blood of innocent women and children.

The Government, hopelessly involved with debt and graver questions of state, could offer the struggling settlers no relief, and thus alone they were forced to stand in hourly fear of butchery. They grew to look for no help save in their own resources, and yearly meeting with defiance, a pioneer community of militant husbandmen gradually grew and moved westward; instinctively taught to rush to arms upon the breaking of a twig or the rustle of a leaf in defense of their defenseless loved ones in the cabin. 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. He invited destruction and was destroyed. The attention of the student is directed to this phase of Black Hawk’s character as it develops in these pages down to his defeat, August 2d, 1832.

The Sacs were originally British Indians, domiciled near Montreal. By constant quarrels and wars with their neighbors their tribes, once numerous and powerful, were reduced to a remnant and finally driven from the country altogether. They settled in Wisconsin, where they met the Foxes, similarly driven from Canada, and the two tribes immediately combined, ever after being considered as a confederated nation. They again grew powerful and arrogant and became involved in wars with their neighbors. At the time of the last French and English war they took sides with the English and received from that source presents for many years. This British sympathy was born in Black Hawk, and continued with him, growing in intensity as the Americans expanded and defeated the English, until it became positive hatred[^[12]]. When, therefore, he repeats the statement that he heard bad accounts of the Americans in 1803, and then asserts that all his differences with the Americans date from the signing of the treaty of 1804, he states that which cannot be received with confidence. Prior to 1803 he never had found himself in contact with the Americans to an extent worthy of note, and no cause, real or imaginary, had been given him for a difference, yet on leaving the Spanish father, mentioned in the last chapter, he catches a rumor, adopts a prejudice and dictates for his autobiography the following ill-natured words, false to begin with and as malignant as he was generally found to be in speaking or writing of the Americans: “I inquired the cause and was informed that the Americans were coming to take possession of the town and country, and that we should lose our Spanish father. This news made myself and band sad, because we had always heard bad accounts of the Americans from Indians who had lived near them.”

KE-O-KUK.

PA-SHE-PA-HO.

ANTOINE LE CLAIRE.

J.B. PATTERSON.

During the years 1803 and 1804, Gov. William Henry Harrison of Indiana concluded treaties with the Kaskaskias and the Wabash tribes, obtaining thereby title to a large extent of country south of the Illinois River. Having an immense stretch of country unserviceable for fishing and hunting, many of the Sacs and Foxes considered it desirable to receive annuities,[^[13]] after the manner of the Wabash tribes. A bad hunt could thus be recouped in a certain money stipend. Accordingly, slight overtures were thrown out to this effect. The Sacs and Foxes roamed north of the Illinois River, like the fugitive buffalo or lonesome bird of passage. Those broad prairies afforded them no subsistence in hunting or fishing. The bare claim to possession was their sole exercise of it, and that frail tenure had been wrenched by conquest from others without compensation in the smallest degree. Along the streams a few harmless, nondescript Indians and tribal remnants lived, or rather remained, as dependent vassals of the mighty Sacs and Foxes, but these were so inconspicuous and weak as to be ignored by both the whites and Indians in treaties.

There can be no doubt of a knowledge by the Government of this desire for annuities by the Sacs and Foxes. President Jefferson was not the man to simulate the existence of any unfair postulate in treating with the Indians, who were at all times objects of his especial solicitude. Accordingly, on the 27th day of June, 1804, he directed Governor Harrison to treat with the Sacs and Foxes and obtain cessions of lands on both sides the Illinois River, granting as a consideration therefor an annual compensation. Agreeably with his instructions, Governor Harrison called the head chiefs of the consolidated tribes to meet him at St. Louis, which Pashepaho, head chief of the Sacs, Layowvois, Quashquame, Outchequaha and Hashequarhiqua did. Here, on November 3d, the following treaty was solemnly made and signed:

Articles of a Treaty, made at St. Louis, in the district of Louisiana, between William Henry Harrison, Governor of the Indiana Territory and the District of Louisiana, Superintendent of Indian affairs for the said Territory and district and Commissioner plenipotentiary of the United States, for concluding any treaty or treaties, which may be found necessary with any of the Northwestern tribes of Indians, of the one part; and the Chiefs and head men of the united Sac and Fox tribes of the other part.

Article 1. The United States receive the united Sac and Fox tribes into their friendship and protection and the said tribes agree to consider themselves under the protection of the United States, and no other power whatsoever.

Art. 2. The General boundary line between the land of the United States and the said Indian tribes shall be as follows, to wit: Beginning at a point on the Missouri River opposite to the mouth of the Gasconade River; thence, in a direct course so as to strike the River Jeffreon, at the distance of 30 miles from its mouth and down the said Jeffreon to the Mississippi; thence, up the Mississippi to the mouth of the Ouisconsing River, and up the same to a point which shall be 36 miles in a direct line from the mouth of the said river, thence, by a direct line to the point where the Fox River (a branch of the Illinois) leaves the small Lake called Sakaegan; thence, down the Fox River to the Illinois River, and down the same to the Mississippi. And the said tribes, for and in consideration of the friendship and protection of the United States, which is now extended to them, of the goods (to the value of two thousand two hundred and thirty-four dollars and fifty cents) which are now delivered, and of the annuity hereinafter stipulated to be paid, do hereby cede and relinquish forever, to the United States, all the lands included within the above described boundary.

Art. 3. In consideration of the cession and relinquishment of land made in the preceding article, the United States will deliver to the said tribes, at the town of St. Louis, or some other convenient place on the Mississippi, yearly and every year, goods suited to the circumstances of the Indians of the value of one thousand dollars (six hundred of which are intended for the Sacs and four hundred for the Foxes), reckoning that value at the first cost of the goods in the City or place in the United States, where they shall be procured. And if the said tribes shall hereafter at an annual delivery of the goods aforesaid, desire that a part of their annuity should be furnished in domestic animals, implements of husbandry, and other utensils, convenient for them, or in compensation to useful artificers, who may reside with or near them, and be employed for their benefit, the same shall, at the subsequent annual delivery, be furnished accordingly.

Art. 4. The United States will never interrupt the said tribes in the possession of the lands, which they rightfully claim, but will, on the contrary, protect them in the quiet enjoyment of the same against their own citizens and against all other white persons, who may intrude upon them. And the said tribes do hereby engage that they will never sell their lands, or any part thereof, to any sovereign power but the United States, nor to the citizens or subjects of any other sovereign power, nor to the citizens of the United States.

Art. 5. Lest the friendship, which is now established between the United States and the said Indian Tribes should be interrupted by the misconduct of individuals, it is hereby agreed that for injuries done by individuals no private revenge or retaliation shall take place, but instead thereof, complaint shall be made by the party injured to the other by the said tribe, or either of them, to the superintendent of Indian affairs, or one of his deputies; and by the superintendent, or other person appointed by the President, to the Chiefs of the said tribes. And it shall be the duty of the said chiefs, upon complaint being made, as aforesaid, to deliver up the person, or persons, against whom the complaint is made, to the end that he or they may be punished agreeably to the laws of the state or territory where the offence may have been committed. And, in like manner, if any robbery, violence or murder shall be committed on any Indian, or Indians, belonging to the said tribes, or either of them, the person or persons so offending shall be tried, and, if found guilty, punished in the like manner as if the injury had been done to a white man. And, it is farther agreed, that the chiefs of the said tribes shall, to the utmost of their power, exert themselves to recover horses or other property which may be stolen from any citizen or citizens of the United States by any individual or individuals of their tribes. And the property so recovered shall be forthwith delivered to the superintendent or other person authorized to receive it that it may be restored to the proper owner. And in cases where the exertions of the chiefs shall be ineffectual in recovering the property stolen, as aforesaid, if sufficient proof can be obtained, that such property was actually stolen by any Indian or Indians belonging to the said tribes, or either of them, the United States may deduct from the annuity of the said tribes, a sum equal to the value of the property which has been stolen, And the United States hereby guarantee to any Indian or Indians of the said tribes a full indemnification for any horses, or other property which may be stolen from them, by any of their citizens; Provided that the property so stolen cannot be recovered, and that sufficient proof is produced that it was actually stolen by a citizen of the United States.

Art. 6. If any citizen of the United States, or any other white person, should form a settlement, upon the lands which are the property of the Sac and Fox tribes, upon complaint being made thereof, to the superintendent, or other person having charge of the affairs of the Indians, such intruders shall forthwith be removed.

Art. 7. As long as the lands which are now ceded to the United States remain their property, the Indians belonging to the said tribes shall enjoy the privilege of living and hunting upon them.

Art. 8. As the laws of the United States regulating trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes are already extended to the country inhabited by the Sauks and Foxes, and as it is provided by those laws, that no person shall reside as a trader, in the Indian country, without a license, under the hand and seal of the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, or other person appointed for the purpose by the President, the said tribes do promise and agree that they will not suffer any trader to reside amongst them without such license, and that they will, from time to time, give notice to the Superintendent, or to the Agent, for their tribes, of all the traders that may be in their country.

Art 9. In order to put a stop to the abuses and impositions, which are practiced upon the said tribes by the private traders, the United States, will, at a convenient time, establish a trading house, or factory, where the individuals of the said tribes can be supplied with goods at a more reasonable rate than they have been accustomed to procure them.

Art. 10. In order to evince the sincerity of their friendship and affection for the United States, and a respectful deference for their advice, by an act which will not only be acceptable to them, but by the Common Father of all the nations of the Earth, the said tribes do, hereby solemnly promise and agree that they will put an end to the bloody war which has heretofore raged between their tribes and those of the great and little Osages. And for the purpose of burying the tomahawk and renewing the friendly intercourse between themselves and the Osages, a meeting of their respective Chiefs shall take place, at which, under the direction of the above named Commissioner, or the Agent of Indian affairs residing at St. Louis, an adjustment of all their differences shall be made and peace established, upon a firm and lasting basis.

Art. 11. As it is probable that the Government of the United States will establish a Military Post at, or near the mouth, of the Ouisconsing River, and as the land on the lower side of the River may not be suitable for that purpose, the said tribes hereby agree, that a Fort may be built, either on the upper side of the Ouisconsing, or on the right bank of the Mississippi, as the one or the other may be found most convenient; and a tract of land not exceeding two miles square, shall be given for that purpose. And the said tribes do further agree, that they will at all times, allow to traders and other persons traveling through their country, under the authority of the United States, a free and safe passage for themselves and their property of every description. And that for such passage, they shall at no time, and on no account whatever, be subject to any toll or exaction.

Art. 12. This Treaty shall take effect and be obligatory on the contracting parties, as soon as the same shall have been ratified by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate of the United States.

In testimony whereof, the said William Henry Harrison, and the Chiefs and headmen of the said Sac and Fox tribes, have hereunto set their hands and affixed their seals. Done at Saint Louis, in the district of Louisiana, on the third day of November, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Four, and of the independence of the United States the Twenty-Ninth.

ADDITIONAL ARTICLE.

It is agreed that nothing in this treaty contained shall affect the claim of any individual or individuals, who may have obtained grants of Land from the Spanish Government and which are not included within the general boundary line laid down in this treaty: PROVIDED, that such grant have at any time been made known to the said tribes and recognized by them.

William Henry Harrison, [L.S.]

Layowvois, or Laiyuva, [L.S.]

His (X) Mark.

Pashepaho, or The Stabber, [L.S.]

His (X) Mark.

Quashquame, or Jumping Fish, [L.S.]

His (X) Mark.

Outchequaha, or Sun Fish, [L.S.]

His (X) Mark.

Hashequarhiqua, or The Bear, [L.S.]

His (X) Mark.

In presence of

Wm. Prince, Sec’y to the Commissioner.

John Griffin, one of the judges of the

Indiana Territory.

J. Bruff, Maj. Art’ry, U.S.

Amos Stoddard, Capt. Corps of Artillerists.

P. Chouteau, Agent de la haute Louisiana

pour le department Sauvage.

Ch. Gratiot.

Aug. Chouteau.

Vigo S. Warrel, Lieut. U.S. Artillery.

D. Delauney.

Sworn Interpreters: Jos. Barron.

Hypolite Bolen,

His (X) Mark.

CHAPTER III.

Treaty of 1804, and Black Hawk’s Version.

On December 31st, 1804, the President submitted this treaty to the Senate, which ratified it immediately.

In justice to Black Hawk, his relation of all incidents leading up to this treaty, from the departure of French rule to its ratification, which he always insisted was the bone of contention between himself and the whites, will be given, and in justice to the Americans, his inaccuracies, their logical deductions and the manner in which he played the same against the facts will also be given.

In the first edition of his autobiography, published in Boston in 1834, page 25, after concluding his sorrow at the advent of the Americans, he stated:

“Some time afterwards, a boat came up the river, with a young American chief (Lieutenant, afterwards General, Zebulon M. Pike), and a small party of soldiers. We heard of him (by runners) soon after he had passed Salt River. Some of our young braves watched him every day, to see what sort of people he had on board. The boat at length arrived at Rock River, and the young chief came on shore with his interpreter, made a speech, and gave us some presents. We, in return, presented him with meat and such provisions as we could spare.

“We were all well pleased with the speech of the young chief. He gave us good advice; said our American father would treat us well. He presented us an American flag, which was hoisted. He then requested us to pull down our British flags, and give him our British medals, promising to send us others on his return to St. Louis. This we declined, as we wished to have two fathers.”

“* * * We did not see any Americans again for some time, being supplied with goods by British traders.”

“Some moons after this young chief descended the Mississippi, one of our people killed an American and was confined in the prison at St. Louis for the offense. We held a council at our village to see what could be done for him, which determined that Quash-qua-me, Pa-she-pa-ho, Ou-che-qua-ka and Ha-she-quar-hi-qua should go down to St. Louis, see our American father, and do all they could to have our friend released by paying for the person killed; thus covering the blood, and satisfying the relations of the man murdered; that being the only means with us of saving a person who had killed another, and we then thought it was the same way with the whites.

“The party started with the good wishes of the whole nation, hoping they would accomplish the object of their mission. The relatives of the prisoner blacked their faces and fasted–hoping the Great Spirit would take pity on them, and return the husband and father to his wife and children. Quash-qua-me and party remained a long time absent. They at length returned, and encamped a short distance below the village, but did not come up that day, nor did any person approach their camp. They appeared to be dressed in fine coats, and had medals! From these circumstances we were in hopes that they had brought good news. Early the next morning the Council Lodge was crowded. Quash-qua-me and party came up, and gave us the following account of their mission: ‘On their arrival at St. Louis they met their American father, and explained to him their business, and urged the release of their friend. The American chief told them he wanted land, and they agreed to give him some on the west side of the Mississippi, and some on the Illinois side, opposite the Jeffreon. When the business was all arranged, they expected to have their friend released to come home with them. But about the time they were ready to start, their friend was let out of prison, who ran a short distance, and was shot dead. This was all they could recollect of what was said and done. They had been drunk the greater part of the time they were in St. Louis.’

“This was all myself or nation knew of the treaty of 1804. It has been explained to me since. I find by that treaty all our country east of the Mississippi, and south of the Jeffreon, was ceded to the United States for one thousand dollars a year! I leave it to the people of the United States to say whether our nation was properly represented in this treaty, or whether we received a fair compensation for the extent of country ceded by those four individuals. I could say much about this treaty, but I will not at this time. It has been the origin of all our difficulties.”[^[14]]

During the years 1803 and 1804, the British were in their ugliest humor toward the Americans, and no effort to aggravate, yea murder, the frontier was spared. In the face of those atrocities and in face of the further fact that on January 9th, 1789, a solemn treaty of friendship was made between the United States and the Sacs, at Fort Harmar, signed by Te-pa-kee and Kesh-e-yi-va, the 14th article of which is as follows: “The United States of America do also receive into their friendship and protection the nations of the Pottiwatimas and Sacs, and do hereby establish a league of peace and amity between them respectively; and all the articles of this treaty, so far as they apply to these nations, are to be considered as made and concluded in all, and every part, expressly with them and each of them,”[^[15]] it would seem in extreme bad taste for Black Hawk to desire a continuance of British paternity and British provisions, and flout British authority in the faces of those Americans who were the sufferers. A sane man would expect something to happen. Black Hawk stated and emphasized the fact that Pike went up the Mississippi and returned before the treaty of 1804 was made, when as a matter of fact he went up the river in 1805 and returned in 1807. Now if he committed such glaring errors in matters of passing importance, what can be expected in matters of graver importance? And where can the intelligent student draw the line between fact and fabrication?

GOV. WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON.

LIEUT. ZEBULON M. PIKE.

COL. AUGUSTE CHOUTEAU.

COL. PIERRE CHOUTEAU.

Much else that Black Hawk has said is altogether incorrect as well as preposterous. There can be no excuse for his untruthful statement that but four chiefs signed the treaty, because there were five, as the record itself discloses, and Pash-e-pa-ho, the then principal chief of the Sac nation, was one of them. Nor can it be seen that he strengthened his standing with the public to charge William Henry Harrison, the most upright of men, with giving the Indian emissaries fine clothes and medals as part consideration for their signatures, and with stupefying them with liquor and finally murdering outright the prisoner, and it is certainly regrettable to find in his narrative no mention of the sorrowing wife and weeping children of the murdered American who never returned to his hearthstone.

CHAPTER IV.

Treaty of 1804.

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. As needless, yea repugnant, to all sense of propriety and truth as the task may be to shore up the reputation of Governor Harrison against Black Hawk’s aspersions, it has been thought best to quote the only historical record at hand on the subject of the murder, and dissipate for all time the maudlin sympathy which his contention has raised:

“Some time about the middle of the year 1804, three American citizens, who had settled above the Missouri, were murdered by a party of Sack Indians; and the Governor having learnt this circumstance, as well as the hostile dispositions of the Sacks and Foxes toward the United States, sent them a message by Captain Stoddart, in the month of October, requiring their chiefs to meet him in St. Louis; and on his arrival at that place he learnt the circumstance of the murder, as well as the exertions which were making by some of the old chiefs among them to give up the perpetrators of it, but who were opposed by a majority of the nation, who declared their satisfaction at what had been done, and their determination to protect the murderers at all risk. The Governor dispatched another messenger to the Sack chiefs, to inform them of his arrival at St. Louis, and urge them to make every possible exertion to apprehend, and bring with them, the murderers; but if that could not be effected, he requested that they would come to him at any rate, assuring them of their being permitted to return in safety.

“The Governor, conceiving that if they could be prevailed upon to come to a conference it would be easy to convince them of the necessity of preserving the friendship of the United States, had no doubt that he would prevail upon some of them to remain with him as hostages for the delivery of the murderers. But before his messenger had arrived, the petty chief who headed the war party had surrendered himself to the sachems or head men of the nation, and declared his willingness to suffer for the injury he had done. On the arrival of the chiefs at St. Louis, he was delivered up to the Governor, and a positive assurance given that the whole nation were sorry for the injury which had been done, and that they would never in future lift the tomahawk against the United States.”[^[16]]

At this same meeting, the treaty was made which has already been set out at length, and while the same authority mentions the fact without comment, it will be quoted, and following it some reasons may be noted why the bargain was not one of particular rigor. At least Black Hawk’s argument may be shown to be specious:

“At this meeting with the chiefs of the Sac and Fox Indians, the Government negotiated a treaty by which the Indian title was extinguished to the largest tract of land ever ceded in one treaty by the Indians since the settlement of North America, as it includes all the country from the mouth of the Illinois River to the mouth of the Ouisconsing, on the one side, and from the mouth of the Illinois to near the head of the Fox River on the other side; and from the head of the latter a line is drawn to a point 36 miles above the mouth of the Ouisconsing, which forms the northern boundary, and contains upwards of 51 millions of acres.”

Black Hawk offers to leave the question of bargain to the people of the United States. From present day standpoints it might be considered a hard bargain, but from the facts in the case, the reply might be made with an inquiry if the Wisconsin farmer got much of a bargain when he bought from a sharper the Masonic Temple of Chicago for $2,000.

Two-thirds or more of the land ceded was claimed and occupied by the Winnebagoes and Pottowattomies at the time, and Black Hawk knew the fact and admitted it times without number on subsequent occasions. Even down so close to him as the Prophet’s village, in the present county of Whiteside, the country was Winnebago territory; the same at Dixon’s Ferry, while over on the Illinois River the Pottowattomies had for a great length of time held dominion, and this had never been controverted by the Sacs and Foxes. The fact is that the United States acquired but very little territory by that treaty, when the magnificent proportions are mentioned without regard to the facts.

With his usual carelessness of fact, Black Hawk omitted to mention the payments down in money and trade which were made and which in those days were not regarded as trifling. He made no mention of subsequent and additional payments and annuities, neither did he credit the Government for the use and occupation of those same lands for over a quarter of a century after they had been ceded. He omitted entirely that he had never kept a treaty in his life until he was finally crushed and driven from power at the point of the bayonet, and he forgot to omit the further fact that all the Sac and Fox Indians, save Black Hawk and his immediate followers, recognized that treaty as just in 1808, when a delegation visited Fort Madison to ascertain if its erection was in violation of it. Schoolcraft, Vol. VI, page 393, made a very sensible observation regarding the sales by Indians of their lands: “But while any section of their territories abounded in game, the Indians elected to retire thither, and bestowed but little attention on either grazing or agriculture. There was, therefore, a singular concurrence in the desire of the emigrants to buy and in the willingness of the Indians to sell their lands.”

At no time had the Illinois lands been valuable to the Sacs for hunting, the streams and forests of Iowa having always been sought for their annual hunts. There can be no doubt that this feature had its influence exactly as Schoolcraft, the friend always to the Indian, has stated.

FORT MADISON.

GROUND PLAN OF FORT MADISON.

MAJ. JOHN BEACH.

CHAPTER V.

Erection of Fort Madison–Rumors of Indian Attack–Black Hawk Joins Tecumseh–Returns to His Village–Attacks Fort Madison–The Siege.

The object of the expedition of Lieutenant Pike, in 1805-6-7, was, among other things, to select suitable locations for military reservations, Indian posts and forts. One of the last named he located at the head of the Des Moines Rapids, immediately above the mouth of the river of that name, on the west bank of the Mississippi.

In 1808, First Lieutenant Alpha Kingsley, with Captain Ninian Pinckney’s company, was sent there from below to construct the fort and garrison it. His work attracted the attention of passing Sacs and excited the suspicion that the act might be a possible infraction of the 1804 treaty. To determine the matter, a party, including Black Hawk, traveled down the river to the scene, where a council or talk was immediately held, at which the intention of the Government was fully discussed. The explanations were satisfactory in every particular to the respective chiefs, who, every one, cheerfully ratified the action of the Government, commending the act as one of prevision for both parties, and with assurances of good feeling returned to their respective homes. Even Drake, the especial champion of Black Hawk, is forced to state, on page 79: “Some of the Indians went down the river, and, after an interview with the officers in charge of the troops constructing it, returned home, satisfied that there was no infraction.”

Not so with Black Hawk. He came to the spot bent on mischief, and while the others entered and were engaged in the council, he remained aloof, that no obligation might rest upon him if the talk should result adversely to his wishes, his favorite trick for avoiding the meshes of engagements which might conflict with the arrangements he had made with his British friends, who were furnishing him supplies, as we have seen.

Thus was the construction of Fort Madison permitted to continue, and thus was it in due time completed and garrisoned by seventy-five men; but Black Hawk had studied well its plans and marked it for his vengeance at such a time as stealth should permit him to ambush it and butcher its garrison, lulled into a supine security[^[17]].

During the winter of 1808-9, British agents, taking advantage of the suppositious dissatisfaction of the Indians, moved industriously among the tribes, and, through Black Hawk, were able to create among his followers a desire to annoy the Americans. Reports of impending attacks reached the garrison of Fort Madison from time to time. “Upon receiving this information,” Lieutenant Kingsley wrote, “I made every exertion to erect the blockhouses and plant my pickets; this we did in two weeks (lying on our arms during the night), and took quarters in the new fort the 14th inst. (April, 1809). Being tolerably secure against an attack, we have been able to get a little rest, and are now making the best preparations for the safety and defense of this establishment.”

This letter is dated, “Fort Madison, near River Le Moin, 19th April, 1809.” In the same letter Lieutenant Kingsley reported that rumors of an Indian alliance are reaching him frequently, and that any coming trouble may be traced directly to British influence. “The sooner the British traders are shut out of the river,” he added, “the better for our Government.” Thus was Black Hawk allied, preparing for his part in the war of 1812 with England.

Governor Harrison, in a letter to the Secretary of War, dated Vincennes, July 15th, 1810 (Drake, p. 62), said: “A considerable number of the Sacs went some time since to see the British superintendent, and on the first instant more passed Chicago for the same destination.”

General Clark, under date St. Louis, July 20th, 1810, stated in writing to the same department: “One hundred and fifty Sacs are on a visit to the island of St. Joseph, in Lake Huron.” John Johnson, the Indian agent at Fort Wayne, under date of August 7th, 1810, said to the Secretary of War: “About one hundred Saukees have returned from the British agent, who supplied them liberally with everything they stood in need of. The party received forty-seven rifles and a number of fusils, with plenty of powder and lead.”

In 1811 Black Hawk eagerly accepted British counsel to join the Prophet at Tippecanoe[^[18]] for the purpose of annihilating Governor Harrison. Failing in that effort, he turned westward with a party of Winnebagoes to attack Fort Madison, but the long march homeward must have exhausted his martial spirit, because that attack was not made by him until September 5th, 1812, at 5:30 P.M. However that may be, he considered it unwise to precipitate his contemplated attack without preparation and care. Therefore, he had the ground thoroughly reconnoitered by his spies, who reported that every morning it was customary for the troops to march out for exercise, leaving no defense behind, and this was the hour finally fixed for his attack.

His British band and about 200 Winnebagoes stealthily marched to the neighborhood, where, after a consultation, the plan of attack was changed into one of assault, which was immediately begun and continued until darkness compelled the Indians to retire. The following morning it was not resumed, as contemplated by the garrison, which lulled it into negligence, for a soldier was permitted to leave the gate. He returned safely, and John Cox, another private, was permitted to go out with less show of caution. This poor fellow was instantly shot and scalped and the Indians, with yells, then recommenced their assault. During the engagement the boat of a Mr. Graham, who had arrived on the 4th, was burned, as were two others belonging to the Government. Soon after fire was thrown upon the blockhouses that stood near the bank of the river, but syringes made from gun barrels were used with such effectiveness that the blaze was confined to little damage. One detachment of the enemy killed the live stock, plundered and burned the house of a Mr. Julian and destroyed the corn. On the 7th the battle was renewed and raged with greater fury, the Indians again throwing fire upon the blockhouses and shooting flaming arrows into the roofs, but the garrison repulsed every attack. In the evening the house of a Mr. Nabb was burned and the blacksmith shop and factory of the garrison threatened. Had these been fired in the prevailing wind, every man of the garrison had been burned alive, but commanding officer Thomas Hamilton, by the most heroic measures, forced the fire away until the wind veered, when he dispatched a soldier to fire the factory, which he successfully did, and in three hours it was consumed without danger to the garrison. During the day, several Indians crept into a stable, and there, harbored from musket balls, shot deadly arrows into the roofs, but a shot from the cannon by Lieutenant Burony Vasquez finally drove them out. On the 8th the attack diminished in ferocity, and on the 9th not an Indian remained to be seen.

Inside the fort only one man was wounded, but the casualties of the Indians were reported as upwards of forty.

Fort Madison, for the purposes of trading, was favorably located, but for purposes of defense it was hopelessly inadequate. Timber, ravines and the bank of the river afforded the enemy positions from which he could not be driven. At the same time a small party could harass the garrison with no great danger to itself unless some of the number became imprudent. During the siege there were but first and second lieutenants Hamilton and Vasquez, two sergeants, two corporals and a few more than thirty privates to defend a fort–a force totally inadequate against a horde of bloodthirsty savages.

After the 9th Black Hawk permitted several days to elapse before resuming hostilities, during which he formed another plan to capture and massacre the garrison. To all appearances they had retired to their homes. Immediately so-called friendly Indians came to trade, including Quash-qua-me and Pash-e-pa-ho, who, while professing friendship under that treaty, could not resist British and Black Hawk intrigue, and were then leagued with Black Hawk to destroy the fort by stratagem. These two were readily admitted to the fort, retired and called again and again, offering finally to entertain the fatigued garrison with a dance. The officers, to oblige the men, signified a willingness to witness the ceremony. Quash-qua-me was to signal Black Hawk, who was to be near by, to rush in upon the men and murder every one while the dance progressed. Early in the day a young woman, who had formed a strong attachment for one of the garrison, appeared before Lieutenant Hamilton as though in great distress. She was taken inside the stockade, and, when free from observation, disclosed the plot of the would-be assassins. Her simple story touched the heart of every man, and, though their long seige had worn them down well nigh to despair, her love and devotion inspired a strength and courage which would only falter when the spirit had fled and left the useless body a clod upon the field.[^[19]] Lieutenant Hamilton caused a six-pounder, loaded with grapeshot, to be masked and ranged full upon the stockade entrance. Sentinels were posted with orders to allow no more than one Indian to enter at a time. Quash-qua-me and his companions duly appeared and were admitted singly. The warriors within, to a considerable number, gathered about the entrance, the designated place, and began their dance, raising with their whoops and yells a din to heaven. Suddenly the dance was suspended by the warriors making a furious rush for the gate, which conveniently opened. Confident that the plot had been successfully carried out by those inside, the others outside madly charged the angle. A lighted fuse, flashed above the unmasked cannon, brought those in front to a sudden halt, while those behind, by reason of it, were plunged headlong into a confused and confounded mass. Aghast at their miserable miscarriage, a general retreat was attempted, but this was not accomplished by Quash-qua-me and his immediate followers, who were made prisoners.

Finding himself in disgrace and fearing condign punishment, Quash-qua-me renounced hostilities against the Americans, was released, and, with slight exception, remained thereafter their faithful friend. His followers, who were imprisoned, finally confessed the plot in its every detail, and when released, as they immediately were, maintained a lasting penitence.

In this episode Black Hawk was at a convenient distance in the bushes, leaving all the danger and obloquy to fall upon Quash-qua-me.

CHAPTER VI.

Black Hawk Enlists With the British in the War of 1812–Deserts–Foster Son Story–Keokuk Made Chief.

It was not enough that British intrigue had maintained a reign of terror upon the frontier where the sturdy pioneer was slowly and painfully conquering a few roods of timberland to provide a home for his family. It was not enough that his life, the only protection of that family, should be daily menaced with ambush. British arrogance now menaced the nascent Republic by extending its infamous tactics to the high seas, bullying our infant commerce by exacting the right of search from feebly manned vessels and cruelly impressing into British service American seamen to fight their friends and relatives in case of war. On June 18, 1812, the declaration of war followed; then the fall of Mackinaw, July 17; the Fort Dearborn massacre, August 15, and, finally, the mortifying and distressing surrender of Hull on August 16th.

These disasters opened wide the gates for British influence to promote war upon the feeble frontiersmen, with such allies as Black Hawk, and to him they were buds of mighty promise. The first act of the English trader, Robert Dickson, who had headquarters at Prairie du Chien, was to send La Gouthrie, the trader, by boat to Black Hawk’s village on Rock River with presents, money and ammunition for this Indian and his band of mercenaries who did his bidding. The Fort Madison affair followed, after which Black Hawk and 200 of his followers immediately went to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and joined the British expedition fitted out there, and where the commander made him a speech, dubbed him “General Black Hawk” and assigned him the responsible and distinguished position of Aid to the great Tecumseh.[^[20]]

In spite of these calamities, the pioneer hardened his heart, consigned his family to the nearest fort, then, molding his bullets, he shouldered his trusty rifle and marched with his brother settler to defend his country, as he had defended his fireside so often before.

To have been assigned to the staff of Tecumseh should have exalted Black Hawk to deeds worthy his renowned superior, but his peevish nature and lack of capacity prevented a comprehension of his just duties. Colonel Dickson admonished him to honest warfare, which was so distasteful to Black Hawk that he wrote: “I told him (Col. Dickson) that I was very much disappointed, as I wanted to descend the Mississippi and make war upon the settlements.” This sentiment was, according to his own statement, promptly rebuked by Dickson, as Black Hawk himself recited: “He said he had been ordered to lay the country waste around St. Louis; that he had been a trader on the Mississippi many years; had always been kindly treated and could not consent to send brave men to murder women and children. 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. I was surprised at this, as I had been told that the Americans could not fight.” He followed the British army until the conclusion of the Battle of the Thames, October 5th, 1813, with its disastrous consequences, when, in the face of defeat to his friends, he, with twenty of his braves, deserted in the night time for home, assigning for his reason: “I was now tired of being with them, our success being bad and having got no plunder.”[^[21]] Not a patriotic declaration, to be sure! He arrived home in the spring of 1814, and instead of settling down to peaceful pursuits, endeavoring to make slight amends for his unjustifiable warfare against the Americans, whose country he then occupied, he began a long and bloody series of diabolical raids, inciting others to do the same, until the remotest settlement mourned its dead.

In after years, when conquered, instead of expressing any contrition for his acts, he invented for his autobiography a sympathetic sort of story, but neither fact nor tradition comes to the rescue when it is analyzed. Black Hawk claimed that he had one friend bound closer to him than was usual, and in consideration of this unusual affinity he adopted the friend’s only son. When departing to join the British, Black Hawk urged the father to send the son to the war. To this proposition the father protested his declining years, the favor with which the whites had always treated him, the need of the boy’s assistance at home, and refused to allow him to leave.

Returning from the war, Black Hawk said, as he was approaching his village he saw a column of smoke curling over a hilltop near by, which so excited his curiosity that he visited the spot alone (fortunate intuition). There he found his old friend sitting in sorrow upon the ground. Being revived by some water, the old man related to Black Hawk the story of the murder of his son near Fort Madison, whither they had gone to pass the winter and hunt under permission of the commandant. The story continues that the young man started one day, as usual, for a day’s hunting. At nightfall he had not returned and the father passed a sleepless night. The following morning the boy had not come back and the father sent the mother to rouse the neighborhood. (Why was she not then present to minister to him?) Footsteps upon the snow soon brought the party to the spot where the boy was found to have shot and skinned a deer and hung it upon a branch. Here tracks indicated the presence of white men who had come upon and taken him prisoner. Following their trail, the body of the boy was soon found, the face shot, the body pierced with dagger thrusts and the scalp removed, while his arms had been pinioned at his sides. As the old man related this story, a great storm rose which lasted for a long time, as though the heavens were angered at the offense and threatening revenge. The old man died, and as the storm subsided Black Hawk wrapped his blanket around the body, and, kindling a fire, sat by it during the night. Were this story true, the act were too dastard to find any explanation, but, as already stated, neither contemporaneous history nor tradition from the many who love to tell such tales confirms this weird invention. On the contrary, Fort Madison had been finally besieged by Indians during the preceding year (1813), the garrison starved to shadows, and only by stratagem were the officers and men enabled to escape, which was accomplished by digging a trench to the river, when, after firing the buildings, they descended the river in boats.[^[22]] Therefore, if the winter just passed, which is the only inference deducible from Black Hawk’s account, was the winter referred to, the father and son got no permission from the commandant, because there was no fort remaining and no commandant, and, in view of the hostility of the Indians, no settlers remained about the locality, unprotected as they would have been. If by any juggling of dates the winter referred to had been the one of ’12-’13, the peaceful Indians had by their own request been removed far to the southwest, the garrison had just gone through the first long siege before mentioned and only escaped butchery by the plot which the Indian maiden had exposed.

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 was met by the chiefs and braves and conducted to the lodge prepared for him. After eating, he gave an account of himself and his travels, crediting the Americans with some valor and marksmanship. In turn, the village chief replied that with the absence of Black Hawk and his following, they would have been unable to defend themselves had the Americans attacked them. Not only had they been unmolested, but when Quash-qua-me, the Lance and other chiefs, with their old men, women and children, descended the Mississippi to St. Louis for protection, the Americans received them with every evidence of friendship, sent them up the Missouri River and there abundantly provided for them.

Black Hawk found on his return that Keokuk, during his absence, had been made principal war chief of the Sac nation, which so enraged him that I am forced to believe his attack upon that chief, which followed, was unwarranted, though he magnanimously concluded his philippic with the statement that he was satisfied.

Keokuk, chief of the Sacs, who was above Black Hawk in civil affairs, had, from reasons of polity or preference, maintained close and constant relations of friendship with the Americans and had prospered in the estimation of the latter. His rising fortune created friction from the first, then envy and finally implacable hatred on the part of Black Hawk, who found himself unable to combat the influence of Keokuk, either overtly or covertly, by reason of his incapacity. Instead of meeting Keokuk on terms as nearly equal as his intellect would permit, he invariably grew angry, allowed his baser nature to master him, and left the scene vowing vengeance on the victor. Had he been able to throw off his anger after a brief season, as many impulsive men can do, he might yet have accomplished much, but a yellow streak in his nature forbade it, and, I honestly believe, impelled the man onward to ruinous decisions in spite of himself. His melancholy made him churlish and revengeful, and consequently dissatisfied, unless punishing some real or imaginary wrong.

British agents could not influence Keokuk, whose temper was naturally amiable and gentle, and, if one wishes to adopt Black Hawk’s sarcasm, politic, too. He favored peace always. In a sense he was luxurious for an Indian, fond of pomp, and those attributes might in a measure have superinduced his love of peace; but peaceful he was after the fire of youth had somewhat succumbed to the influence of the whites, and so he continued unto his dying day. His oratory was so perfect, his logic so convincing, his person so magnetic and his pleas so engaging, that poor Black Hawk made a sorry figure against him, and, after a few attempts, dared never again appeal to the reason of his people against the invincible Keokuk.[^[23]] As an orator, Keokuk had no equal among the red men, and the influence it acquired for him so rankled in the heart of Black Hawk that the latter could never overcome his hatred of Keokuk. Even down to the very last speech he ever made, at Fort Madison, he could not repress an unfortunate fling at his rival; and too bad it was that he allowed his passion to sway him from a plain and simple talk upon past or present events. The words and sentiments of that little talk were truly beautiful and had reflected much credit had he resisted the temptation to speak ill of Keokuk. His life was then ebbing away, and had that offensive portion of his talk been omitted, very many of his evil acts could have been pardoned and forgotten. His melancholy and his temper were his undoing.

CHAPTER VII.

Expedition of Governor Clark to Prairie du Chien–Lieutenant Campbell’s Battle.

During the absence of Black Hawk, in 1812 and 1813, Fort Madison fell and considerable trouble was encountered from Indians, but, whether Sacs or others,[^[24]] the Sacs were never molested by the Americans. That the Sacs were unprepared to stand an attack was freely told him on his arrival, and Wash-e-own, who paid him a visit, was warm in his praises of American kindness, upon which Black Hawk scornfully commented: “I made no reply to these remarks, as the speaker was old and talked like a child.”

Such perverse assertions as this one, constantly recurring throughout his autobiography, are irritating to one who desires candor, and in the face of them it is difficult to deal justly in the premises without appearing almost savage. He constantly asserts that he never fought the Americans without being first attacked, yet who can say that the Americans had attacked or disturbed him up to this point? And how had the Americans disturbed him after his arrival home in 1814? His village had never been molested, though on his account it might have been with good cause. He was still enjoying the use and occupation of it, but, notwithstanding that fact, he was no sooner back to it but he began an organized campaign of bloodshed on the frontier. Like the torch applied to the dried grass of the prairie, the Sacs and Winnebagoes, under him, spread their ravages in 1814. British agents again had material to work on, and their machinations produced results, as the journals of the day recite.

Black Hawk stated that he, with thirty braves, immediately on his return in 1814, out of revenge for the murder of his supposed adopted son, descended the Mississippi, and that the battle of the “sink hole” followed. This would need to be early in 1814, whereas the fact is that the battle of the “sink hole” was fought nearly a year and a quarter after that time, and, what is more, after peace had been declared between the United States and Great Britain. Now if we cannot believe Black Hawk’s assertion in that important matter, which is refuted by the record, then when can he be believed?

Indian depredations made necessary the rehabilitation of the fort at Prairie du Chien[^[25]], long since allowed to fall into a state of decay by the British, and, by reason of the need of troops further to the east, Dickson had removed the garrison to Green Bay. For the purpose of capturing and repairing it, Governor Clark of St. Louis prepared an expedition to ascend the river, which was duly chronicled in the prints of the day:

“A military expedition, of about 200 men in five barges, under the command of Gov. Clark, left St. Louis on the 1st of May, for Prairie du Chien, supposedly with a view of building a fort there and making a station to keep in check the Sioux, Winnebagoes and Falsavoine, lately stirred up to hostility by the infamous British agent, Dickson. There have been several murders by them.”[^[26]]

Another dispatch showing the success of the venture is as follows:

“St. Louis, June 18.–On Monday evening last a barge arrived here from Prairie du Chien, with Gov. Clark and a few gentlemen who accompanied him on his expedition to that place. We are very happy in being able to announce the fortunate result of that hazardous enterprise.

“Nothing worthy of remark attended the flotilla from the time they left St. Louis until they reached Rock River. Such of the disaffected Sacs and Foxes as appeared on the approach of the boats were fired on; some canoes were taken with the arms of the affrighted savages, who sued for peace on any terms. Peace was granted them on condition they would join against the enemies of the United States and immediately commence hostilities against the Winnebagoes. The Foxes, who lived above Rock River at Deboque’s mines, were willing to come into the same arrangement.

“Twenty days before the arrival of the Governor at Prairie du Chien, Dickson left that place for Mackinaw with 85 Winnebagoes, 120 Falsavoine, and 100 Sioux, recruits for the British army on the lakes. He had information of the approach of Gov. Clark, and had charged Captain Deace, commanding a body of Mackinaw fencibles, with the defense of the place; but Deace and his party ran off, the Sioux and Renards having refused to oppose the Americans. As soon as the troops landed at the town, notice was sent to the inhabitants (who had fled into the country) to return. All came back, but a few scoundrels who knew they deserved a halter.

“Every attention was then directed to the erection of a temporary place calculated for defense. Sixty rank and file of Major Taylor’s company of the Seventh Regiment, under command of Lieutenant Perkins, took possession of the house formerly occupied by the old Mackinaw company, and a new fort was progressing on a most commanding spot, when the Governor left the Prairie.

“Two of the largest armed boats were left, under the command of Aid-de-Camp Kennedy and Captains Sullivan and Yeizer, whose united force amounted to 125 dauntless young fellows from this county. The regulars, under the command of Lieutenant Perkins, are stationed on shore, and are assisted by the volunteers in the erection of the new fort. * * *”[^[27]]

During this celebrated voyage Black Hawk and his British Sacs were busy to undo, at the first favorable moment, all the good work done by Governor Clark, as may be seen by an article which appeared in the Missouri Republican:

“St. Louis, July 16.–Platoff, the Hetman Cossack in the service of Russia, offered 100,000 ducats and his daughter to any person who would assassinate Bonaparte. Alexander discountenanced the affair as infamous and dishonorable. How will the English Government and their agent, Robert Dickson[^[28]] (a native of Scotland), appear to the world when it is announced that he suborned a Sac warrior to assassinate Governor Clark while in council at Prairie du Chien? The affair rests on the testimony of the Indians; the fellow left Rock Island for the diabolical purpose, was admitted to the council, but found the Americans armed at every point and all possibility of escape cut off; he therefore prudently declined the attempt. A gentleman who was at the Prairie and in the council informs us that this Indian rose and occupied the attention of the assembly with a harangue of trifling import; that his eyes were fixed on the Governor as if riveted to the object. At that moment the Governor shifted his sword from an unhandy position to one across his knees, when the savage retired to his seat. * * *”[^[29]]

It may be of interest, though not connected with Black Hawk, to note here that one very strong reason for the subsequent surrender of the fort was the decimation of its garrison:

“St. Louis, July 2.–On Sunday last, an armed boat arrived from Prairie du Chien, under the command of Capt. John Sullivan, with his company of militia and 32 men from the gunboat Governor Clark, their time of service (60 days) having expired. Captain Yeizer, who commands on board the Governor Clark, off Prairie du Chien, reports that his vessel is completely manned, that the fort is finished, christened Fort Selby, and occupied by the regulars. * * *”[^[30]]

But Fort Selby could not spare the withdrawal of the militia mentioned, and on July 21, 1814, the fort surrendered to Colonel McKay after a four days’ siege.

Weakened as the garrison was by the withdrawal of the militia, General Howard, on his return from Kentucky, advised that immediate steps be taken to reinforce it. He quickly perceived the danger from an attack and the inability of the small force to defend the post, and he as quickly brought into the field a relief expedition.

Following is the best account extant upon the subject, repeated verbatim:

From the Missouri Gazette, July 30, 1814.

Disaster.

“As soon as Gov. Clark returned from his successful expedition to Prairie du Chien, it was thought proper by Brigadier-General Howard, commanding in this district (who had in the interim returned to this place from Kentucky), to send a force to relieve the volunteers, and preserve the acquisition so important to the welfare of our country. For this purpose, Lieut. John Campbell of the first regulars, acting as brigade major, was entrusted with the command of 42 regulars and 65 rangers, in three keel boats, the contractor’s and sutler’s boats in company. The whole party, including boatmen and women, amounting to about 133, reached Rock River, within 180 or 200 miles of the Prairie, without any accident. As soon as they entered the rapids they were visited by hundreds of Sacs and Foxes, some of the latter bearing letters from the garrison above to St. Louis. The officers, being unacquainted with Indian manners, imagined the savages to be friendly; to this fatal security may be attributed the catastrophe which followed. It appears that the contractor’s and sutler’s boat had arrived near the head of the rapids and proceeded on, having on board the ammunition, with a sergeant’s guard; the rangers, in two barges, followed, and had proceeded two miles in advance of the commander’s barge; the latter inclined to the east side in search of the main channel, and being now on a lee shore, proceeded with much difficulty, and as the gale increased were drifted into shoal water within a few yards of a high bank covered with grass, waist high; a few steps from the bow and stern an umbrage of willows set out from shore.

“In this position the commanding officer thought proper to remain until the wind abated; sentries were placed at proper intervals, and the men were occupied in cooking, when the report of several guns announced an attack. At the first fire all the sentries were killed, and before those on shore could reach the barge, 10 or 15 out of 30 were killed and wounded. At this time the force and intentions of the Indians were fully developed. On each shore the savages were observed in quick motion; some in canoes crossing to the battleground; others were observed running from above and below to the scene of attack; in a few minutes from five to seven hundred were assembled on the bank and among the willows within a few yards of the bow and stern of the barge; the Indians gave the whoop, and commenced a tremendous fire; the brave men in the barge cheered, and returned the fire from a swivel and small arms. At this critical juncture, Lieuts. Riggs and Rector of the rangers, who commanded the two barges ahead, did not hear the guns, but saw the smoke, and, concluding an attack was made, dropped down. Riggs’ boat stranded about 100 yards below Campbell’s, and Rector, to avoid a like misfortune and preserve himself from a raking fire, anchored above; both barges opened a brisk fire on the Indians, but as the enemy fired from coverts, it is thought little execution was done.

“About one hour was spent in this unequal contest, when Campbell’s barge was discovered on fire, to relieve which Rector cut his cable and fell to windward of him, and took out the survivors. Finding he could not assist Riggs, having a number of wounded on board, and in danger of running on a lee shore, he made the best of his way to this place, where he arrived on Sunday evening last.

Killed and Wounded.

“There were 3 regulars killed and 14 wounded; 2 died on their passage to this place; 1 ranger killed and 4 wounded on board Lieut. Rector’s barge. Brig.-Maj. Campbell and Dr. Stewart are severely wounded. Two women and a child were severely wounded–one of the women and the child are since dead. Just as we had finished detailing the above unfortunate affair, we received the glad tidings of the arrival of Lieut. Riggs at Cap au Gray; he lost 3 men killed and 4 wounded. Would to Heaven we could account for the remaining 2 barges.

Consolatory.

“As we were preparing the foregoing for press, gunboat Gov. Clark, commanded by Capt. Yeizer, arrived here, in nine days from Prairie du Chien, with the contractor’s and sutler’s barges, which were fortunately relieved at the moment the Indians were about to board them. From the officers of the Gov. Clark we have received the following very important news from the Prairie: On the 17th inst. the long-expected British force appeared in view. Marching from the Ouisconsing toward the village, the line of the regular troops, militia and Indians extended about 2 miles, with 24 flags flying. A British officer arrived at the fort, demanding its surrender. Lieut. Perkins returned for an answer that he was able and prepared to defend the post entrusted to his charge. Before the return of the flag, the British commenced a fire upon the Gov. Clark from a small battery of 1 or 2 three-pounders, which was immediately answered from a six-pounder from the boat. Soon after firing commenced, a large body of Indians and white troops crossed to the island which fronts the village, and enabled them to fire on the boat at pistol-shot distance, and screen themselves behind trees from the grape which incessantly poured from the boat. In this manner the contest continued for two hours, until the gunboat received several shot between wind and water, when it was concluded to move down the river; by this movement down the narrow channel they had to run the gauntlet through a line of musketry nearly nine miles. On approaching the rapids, Capt. Yeizer sent his skiff with nine men down to reconnoiter, who discovered Riggs’ boat engaged with the Indians and Campbell’s barge on fire. These appearances induced the boat’s crew to return, and the Indians to call to them to come on shore, raising to their view the English flag, believing them to be Mackinaw voyageurs. Before dispatching the reconnoitering boat, the Gov. Clark joined the contractor’s and sutler’s boats. Those on board were ignorant of the fate of the boats below, and would, within half an hour, have been in the power of the savages, if they had not thus been providentially snatched from destruction.

“Seven were wounded on board the Gov. Clark, namely, Lieut. Henderson and Ensign St. Pierre, severely. Five privates were wounded; one died on the way down the day after his leg was amputated.

“Every account of the attack on Campbell’s detachment reflects highest encomium on the skill and undaunted bravery of Lieuts. Rector and Riggs of the rangers. The former, after a contest of two hours and twenty minutes, withdrew to a favorable position, which enabled him to save the few regular troops as well from the flames which surrounded them as the fury of the savages. The high wind which then prevailed, and the loss of his anchors, prevented his rendering a like assistance to Lieut. Riggs. The latter, though stranded and in a hopeless situation, kept up an incessant fire on the Indians, and by a rusé de guerre afforded his party an opportunity of making the savages feel some of the consequences of their perfidy. He ordered his men to cease firing for about ten minutes, and at the same time ordered howitzers to be well loaded with grape, and the small arms to be in readiness. The Indians, believing the rangers to be all killed, or that they had surrendered, rushed down the bank to extinguish the fire on board Lieut. Campbell’s barge and to board Riggs’. Our hero then opened upon them a well-directed fire, which drove them in all directions, leaving several of their dead behind.”

When Campbell reached Rock River he called upon Black Hawk with a handful of men as an escort–so ridiculously small that Black Hawk repeatedly stated he could have captured and put them all to death with little or no effort. Campbell made the Indians presents, and in return received from Black Hawk a solemn promise that no effort to assist the British or disturb him in his ascent would be made by the Indians, but during the night some powder arrived from the British, who had in the meantime driven the Americans from Fort Selby, and sent it to Black Hawk with instructions to use the same in case any Americans attempted to pass his village to succor the garrison at Prairie du Chien.

Black Hawk had a very facetious way of putting that request into his biography. He stated on page 56 that Campbell and his aids, after holding a council with him, remained all day, and then after receiving word during the night (along with the powder), that Prairie du Chien had fallen, and that the British wished him to join them again: “I immediately started with my party by land in pursuit, thinking that some of their boats might get aground, or that the Great Spirit would put them in our power if he wished them taken and their people killed.”

It is astonishing to note how frequently he confused the behests of the British with those supposed to emanate from the Great Spirit!

While the men were helplessly floundering in the mud to extricate their boat, which had run aground, Black Hawk was pouring a murderous fire into their exposed ranks, and that, too, after promising the day previous to be friendly. To reduce the hapless wretches still more, fire was thrown by arrows into the sails, and the boat, likely to be consumed, was abandoned; then the Indians plunged into the water and drew it ashore. At this stage Black Hawk virtuously knocked in the heads of all the kegs of whisky which he found in the hold, yet when he retired down the river to the Fox village, opposite the mouth of Rock River, he hoisted the British flag and when, immediately after, the British came along with a keg of rum, Black Hawk and his band had a great feast and dance,[^[31]] ending the scene in a protracted and hilarious spree. A refinement of the ethics of liquor-drinking quite abstruse–this difference between whisky and rum!

Those British brought the Indians a gun which was used on the defenseless Americans under Zachary Taylor a little later as Black Hawk stated: “We were pleased to see that almost every shot took effect.”

CHAPTER VIII.

Major Taylor’s Battle–Battle of the Sink Hole–Various Murders–British Agents Withdrawn from Rock River Country.

Disturbances by the Sacs now followed so frequently that Major Zachary Taylor, with a detachment of troops, was sent against that one disturbing and bandit element of Indian population located near the mouth of Rock River, Black Hawk’s village.

Black Hawk attacked and repulsed Major Taylor in a manner which made the pulse of every settler throb with fear for the safety of his family. He had, without the least provocation, been constantly and successfully engaged in warfare the most stubborn and unrelenting, and backed by his British friends, the safety of the country, after Taylor’s defeat, hung in the balance. Major Taylor’s report, a temperate and dignified document, is as follows:

“Sir:–In obedience to your orders, I left Fort Independence on the 2d ult. and reached Rock River, our place of destination, on the evening of the 4th inst., without meeting a single Indian or any occurrence worthy of relation.

“On my arrival at the mouth of Rock River, the Indians began to make their appearance in considerable numbers; running up the Mississippi to the upper village and crossing the river below us. After passing Rock River, which is very small at the mouth, from an attentive and careful examination, as I proceeded up the Mississippi, I was confident it was impossible for us to enter its mouth with our large boats. Immediately opposite its mouth a large island commences, which, together with the western shore of the Mississippi, was covered with a considerable number of horses, which were doubtless placed in those situations in order to draw small detachments on shore; but in this they were disappointed, and I determined to alter the plan which you had suggested, which was to pass the different villages as if the object of the expedition was Prairie du Chien, for several reasons. First, that I might have an opportunity of viewing the situation of the ground to enable me to select such a landing as would bring our artillery to bear on the villages with the greatest advantage. I was likewise in hopes a party would approach us with a flag, from which I expected to learn the situation of affairs at the Prairie, and ascertain in some measure their numbers and perhaps bring them to a council, when I should have been able to have retaliated on them for their repeated acts of treachery; or, if they were determined to attack us, I was in hopes to draw them some distance from their towns towards the rapids, run down in the night and destroy them before they could return to their defense. But in this I was disappointed. The wind, which had been in our favor, began to shift about at the time we passed the mouth of Rock River, and by the time we reached the head of the island, which is about a mile and a half long, it blew a perfect hurricane, quarterly down the river, and it was with great difficulty we made land at a small island, containing six or eight acres, covered with willows, near the middle of the river, and about sixty yards from the upper end of the island. In this situation I determined to remain during the night if the storm continued, as I knew the anchors of several of the boats in that event would not hold them, and there was a great probability of their being drifted on sandbars, of which the river is full in this place, which would have exposed the men very much in getting them off, even if they could have prevented their filling with water.

“It was about 4 o’clock in the evening when we were compelled to land, and large parties of Indians were on each side of the river, as well as crossing in different directions in canoes; but not a gun was fired from either side. The wind continued to blow the whole night with violence, accompanied with some rain, which induced me to order the sentinels to be brought in and placed in the bow of each boat. About daylight, Capt. Whiteside’s boat was fired on at the distance of about fifteen paces, and a corporal, who was on the outside of the boat, was mortally wounded. My orders were, if a boat was fired on, to return it; but not a man to leave the boat without positive orders from myself. So soon as it got perfectly light, as the enemy continued about the boat, I determined to drive them from the island, let their numbers be what they might, provided we were able to do so. I then assigned each boat a proper guard, formed the troops for action and pushed through the willows to the opposite shore; but those fellows who had the boldness to fire on the boats cleared themselves as soon as the troops were formed by wading from the island we were encamped on to the one just below us. Capt. Whiteside, who was on the left, was able to give them a warm fire as they reached the island they had retreated to. They returned the fire for a few moments, when they retreated. In this affair we had two men badly wounded. When Capt. Whiteside commenced the fire, I ordered Capt. Rector to drop down with his boat to ground and to rake the island below with artillery, and to fire on every canoe he should discover passing from one shore to the other which should come within reach. In this situation he remained about one hour, and no Indians making their appearance, he determined to drop down the island about sixty yards and destroy several canoes that were laying to shore. This he effected, and just on setting his men on board, the British commenced a fire on our boats with a six, a four and two swivels, from behind a knoll that completely covered them. The boats were entirely exposed to the artillery, which was distant three hundred and fifty paces from us. So soon as the first gun fired, I ordered a six-pounder to be brought out and placed, but, on recollecting a moment, I found the boat would be sunk before any impression could be made on them by our cannon, as they were completely under cover; and had already brought their guns to bear on our boats, for the round shot from their six passed through Lieut. Hempstead’s boat and shattered her considerably. I then ordered the boats to drop down, which was done in order, and conducted with the greatest coolness by every officer, although exposed to a constant fire from their artillery for more than half a mile.

“So soon as they commenced firing from their artillery, the Indians raised a yell and commenced firing on us from every direction, whether they were able to do us any damage or not. From each side of the river, Capt. Rector, who was laying to the shore of the island, was attacked the instant the first gun was fired, by a very large party, and in a close and well contested action of about fifteen minutes, they drove them, after giving three rounds of grape from his three-pounder.

“Capt. Whiteside, who was nearest to Capt. Rector, dropped down and anchored nigh him, and gave the enemy several fires with his swivel; but the wind was so hard down stream as to drift his anchor. Capt. Rector at that moment got his boat off, and we were then exposed to the fire of the Indians for two miles, which we returned with interest from our small arms and small pieces of artillery whenever we could get them to bear. I was compelled to drop down about three miles before a proper place presented itself for landing, as but few of the boats had anchors sufficient to stop them in the river. Here I halted for the purpose of having the wounded attended and some of the boats repaired, as some of them had been injured by the enemy’s artillery. They followed us in their boats until we halted on a small prairie and prepared for action, when they returned in as great a hurry as they followed us.

“I then collected the officers together and put the following question to them: ‘Are we able, 334 effective men, officers, non-commissioned officers and privates, to fight the enemy with any prospect of success and effect, which is to destroy their villages and corn?’ They were of opinion the enemy was at least three men to one, and that it was not practicable to effect either object. I then determined to drop down the river to the Lemoine without delay, as some of the ranging officers informed me their men were short of provisions, and execute the principal object of the expedition, in erecting a fort to command the river. This shall be effected as soon as practicable with the means in my power, and should the enemy attempt to descend the river in force before the fort can be completed, every foot of the way from the fort to the settlements shall be contested.

“In the affair at Rock River, I had eleven men badly wounded, three mortally, of whom one has since died. I am much indebted to the officers for their prompt obedience to orders, nor do I believe a braver set of men could have been collected than those who compose this detachment. But, sir, I conceive it would have been madness in me, as well as a direct violation of my orders, to have risked the detachment without a prospect of success. I believe I should have been fully able to have accomplished your views if the enemy had not been supplied with artillery and so advantageously posted as to render it impossible for us to have dislodged him without imminent danger of the loss of the whole detachment.

“I am, sir, yours, etc.,

“Za. Taylor, Brev. Maj.,

“Com. Detachment.”[^[32]]

MAJ. ZACHARY TAYLOR.

GEN. ANDREW JACKSON.

GOV. NINIAN EDWARDS.

GEN. (OR GOV.) WILLIAM CLARK.

Emboldened by his successes, Black Hawk continued his warfare, and in the murder of inoffensive settlers there was no abatement. Through the year 1814 they continued, and notwithstanding the treaty made between the two nations, we find the English agents and Black Hawk still pursuing their depredations in the spring of 1815.

“Traitors.–The undernamed gentry were residents within this and the neighboring territories previous to the war, and always claimed the rights of citizens of the United States; but as soon as war was declared they, to a man, took part against us, and were active agents in the British interest in different parts of the Indian country:

“Robert Dickson, James Aird, Duncan Graham, Francois Boutillier, Edward La Gouthrie, Brishois, of the Prairie du Chien, Jacob Franks, the brothers Grigneaus of Green Bay, Joseph La Croix and Lassaillier of Milwaukee, Joseph Bailly and his cousin Barrott of St. Josephs, Mitchell La Croix, Louis Buisson, Louis Benett, formerly of Peoria.

“It is ascertained that in the unsuccessful attack made by the unfortunate Lieut. M’Nair, four men were killed. M’Nair was wounded and taken prisoner and conveyed two days on his march to Rock River; but, being unable to travel, was tomahawked. A man taken up from the river at Carondelet a few days ago was recognized to be one of the four missing of the name of Best.

“By late news from Rock River, we learn that the Kickapoos have abandoned the British and demanded peace, agreeably to the treaty. It is further said that the Sacs, Winnebagoes and Fallsavoine are determined to prosecute the war.”[^[33]]

Here, long after the treaty of Ghent, signed December 24th, 1814, Black Hawk formulated and made his dastard attack on Fort Howard, known as the “sink hole affair.” Note how puerile, yea, preposterous, his adopted son fiction appears in the light of contemporaneous reports and his continued war upon the Americans! This affair, unprovoked and mean, occurred in May, 1815, and I take the liberty to copy the account of it as published immediately after its occurrence.

“St. Louis, May 20 (1815).–Every day affords a new proof that the Rock River Sacks intend to continue the war. They have been notified of the pacification by the military commander of this district, as well as by Governors Clark and Edwards; yet they still continue their war parties on the frontiers of St. Charles, and murder all those who are so unfortunate as to come within their reach.

“On Wednesday, the 10th inst., at Cap aux Gre, a party of rangers were detached to procure wood. Whilst proceeding on this duty, a man by the name of Bernard, who was in advance of the squad, was fired on and mortally wounded. Lieut. Massey, with a reinforcement from the fort, attacked the Indians, and, after a rapid exchange of several shot, the savages precipitately retreated.

“On the Friday following, a young man, an inhabitant of Portage des Sioux, was pursued by four Indians. He was returning from the village of St. Charles on horseback, and had reached the Portage fields, when he discovered the Indians in full speed after him. Being well mounted, he escaped.

“An express arrived here on Wednesday last from Capt. Musick of the rangers stationed near Cuivre, informing him that a number of the rangers’ horses are stolen by the Indians, who are becoming very troublesome. The extraordinary rise of the waters of the Mississippi, overflowing its banks in many places, and filling up the lakes and rivulets in the neighborhood, enables the Indians to attack and to baffle pursuit.”

Extract of a letter from Lieut Drakeford, of the United States Rangers, to Col. Russell, dated Fort Howard, May 25, 1815.

“Sir:–Yesterday, about 12 o’clock, five of our men went to some cabins on the bluff, about one-quarter of a mile below the fort, to bring a grindstone. The backwater of the Mississippi rendered it so that they went in a canoe. On their return they were attacked by a party of Indians, supposed to be about fifty in number. They killed and tomahawked three and wounded one mortally. While about this mischief, we gave them as good a fire from a little below the fort as the breadth of the breakwater would permit of. Captain Craig and myself, with about forty men, waded across the water and pursued them. In going about half a mile we came on them and commenced a fire, which continued about one hour, part of which time at a distance of about forty steps, and no part of the time further than one hundred and fifty steps. Shortly after the commencement of the battle, we were reinforced by Capt. Musick and twenty of his men. The enemy now ran; some made their escape, and others made to a sinkhole that is in the battleground, and from there they returned a most rapid fire. It being very dangerous to approach nearer than fifty steps of the sink, we at length erected a breastwork on the two wheels of a wagon, and resolved on moving it up to the edge of the sink to fire from behind, down into the sink, and preserve us from theirs.

“We got the moving battery finished about sunset and moved it up with a sufficient number of men behind it, whilst all other posts round were sufficiently guarded in case they should be put to the rout.

“We had not moved to within less than ten steps of the sink before they commenced a fire from the sink, which we returned at every opportunity and all possible advantages. Night came on and we were obliged to leave the ground and decline the expectation of taking them out without risking man for man, which we thought not a good exchange on our side. During the time of the battle, another party of Indians commenced a brisk fire on the fort. Captain Craig[^[34]] was killed in the commencement of the battle; Lieutenant Edward Spears at the moving of the breastwork to the sink. The morning of the 25th we returned to the ground and found five Indians killed and the sign of a great many wounded that had been taken off in the night. The aggregate number of killed on our part is one captain, one third lieutenant; five privates killed, three wounded, one missing; one citizen killed and two wounded mortally.”[^[35]]

Concerning the same affair, Captain David Musick, of the St. Louis county rangers, in a letter or report to Col. William Russell, commander of that district, dated Lower Cuivre Ferry, May 25, 1815, had this to say:

“About 11 o’clock yesterday we were alarmed by the firing of guns in the direction of Fort Howard, and immediately mounted such horses as were within reach and proceeded in full speed to the assistance of Captain Craig, whom we found closely engaged with the Indians and pretty equally matched with respect to number.

“Having arrived in good season, just on the rear of the Indians, who immediately broke and ran, a part of them retreated into a sinkhole and baffled every art to get them out, as they had a better chance to kill than be killed.”[^[36]]

To which battle a Mr. Archambeau added the finishing touches:

“St. Louis, Missouri, June 3.–The Indians must have suffered considerably in their late attack on the rangers near Fort Howard. Two more dead Indians have been discovered some distance from the battleground, and a vast quantity of blood marked their retreat to their canoes. Indeed, I think the rangers behaved extremely well in this affair; only their ardor to get at the enemy exposed them too much, which was the cause of our loss. Craig and Spears would have done better in combat with regular troops; they evinced such a contempt of danger and death that they despised the devious mode of Indian warfare. I am informed Lieutenant Spear’s family are by no means opulent. His widow should receive his pay without delay. I am informed from good authority that the Indians of Rock River have declared they are willing to bury the tomahawk if their friends, the English, will only say the word. The last war parties sent to our frontiers were mustered by the British and sent to murder our women and children since they received an official account of the ratification of the late treaty. The bulk of the Kickapoo nation have separated from the hostile bands, and I am at a loss to imagine how the redoubtable Duncan Graham can subsist so many of his Majesty’s allies at this time. The village at Rock River and the straggling camps on this side, above and below the Lemoine, must amount to 1,200 or 1,500 warriors–Sacks, Foxes, Ioways, Winnebagoes and Fallsavoins.”[^[37]]

The most atrocious of his murders may be found in the following:

“The house of Mr. Robert Ramsay of St. Charles County, Missouri Territory, about 50 miles from St. Louis, was recently attacked by the British allies. Three of his children were horribly butchered, his wife so mangled as to leave no hope of her recovery, and he himself dangerously wounded. Hard the necessity that may compel the extermination of these miserable beings excited to murder by the nation that has been impudently called the ‘bulwark of religion.’ We trust decisive measures will be taken to give security to our frontiers. It is probable that, as in 1794, many Englishmen are among the savages, exciting them to these horrid deeds. If any such are found, they ought to be capitally punished on the spot without mercy.”[^[38]]

In a later communication, this same revolting crime is more particularly related:

“A letter received at St. Louis, Missouri, has the paragraphs below. Why does British influence lead the deluded savages to extermination? In the South as well as the West, it appears that the war in which the Indians were involved on British account is not yet closed. Is the alliance to be dissolved only by the destruction of one of the parties? What murders has the ‘bulwark of religion’ to account for! Merciless Englishmen, let the wretched Indians have peace!

“You have no doubt heard of the butchery of Robert Ramsey and his family by the savages.

“Mrs. Ramsey was attending the milking of her cow and their pretty little children were amusing themselves feeding the poultry and assisting their mother. Mr. Ramsey, who, you know, has but one leg, was near his wife at the moment the first shot was fired. He saw his wife fall and proceeded to lead her into the house; but as he reached the door he received a wound which prevented him going to the relief of his children, who were caught by the Indians and cut to pieces in the yard. Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey are dead; both were shot through the abdomen. Mrs. R. was far advanced in pregnancy.”[^[39]]

Matters in the West had assumed such a tragic phase that heroic measures were projected at the seat of government, and Gen. Jackson was given command of the military district which embraced the seat of hostilities. He at once assigned Brig.-Gen. Smith to command the post at Prairie du Chien and Gen. Scott to the command of military districts 8 and 9, being Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri, while Jackson himself was placed under orders to conduct a western campaign. Col. Miller with 500 men was encamped at Portage des Sioux and the regiment of riflemen under Lieut.-Col. Hamilton was directed by Jackson to immediately organize and march to Prairie du Chien. The fact that Jackson was to settle with Black Hawk and his braves at once stimulated the people with new hope, as will be seen by the following:

“It is determined to scourge the allies of our late enemy in the Missouri Territory, etc., into a respect for the lives and property of our frontier fellow citizens. Their depredations are constant and distressing. The commissioners to settle a peace with them have effected nothing. The deputations from most of the tribes were ‘insufficient,’ and from those most desirable to have met there were no representatives at all. The detail of proceedings is interesting and shall be preserved; but at present the flood of news from France bears down everything. It appears that General Jackson will open a new negotiation with them upon the ‘last resort of reason.’ We understand he will soon proceed from Nashville to St. Louis, where a handsome body of regulars will be collected, and that he will be accompanied by a militia force from Kentucky and Tennessee. In obedience to his request, Governor Clark of the Missouri Territory has, in general orders, directed the militia of that state to hold itself in readiness to march at a moment’s notice; and we have every prospect that British influence among the northern will receive the same reward that befell it among the southern Indians. It must be eradicated.”[^[40]]

Doubtless British influence recollected a little adventure with Jackson the preceding 8th of January, for immediately the expedition by him was to become a reality, overtures for peace were made and commissioners to make a treaty were substituted for the person of Jackson, as will be seen by the following from the Missouri Gazette of June 17th, 1815.

The following letters were received by Governor Clark on Wednesday last:

“It appears that Messrs. Turcot and Lagoterie (who were employed by the commissioners to proceed to Rock River and announce to the Indians the object of the treaty to be held at Portage des Sioux) were fortunate in reaching Little Mascoutille, some distance below their place of destination, without any accident. At this place they met with a party of Fox Indians, bearing letters from the British commandant of Prairie du Chien to Governor Clark, who informed them of the departure of Captain Duncan Graham, deputy scalping master general, from Rock River, after bestowing on his worthy comrades, the Sacks, 10 barrels of gunpowder and 20 fuses as a reward for their services in butchering the helpless women and children on the frontiers.

“As usual, the Sacks received the news of peace with ‘unbounded joy,’ and even sent a British flag to protect our messengers on their return. They acknowledged they had 200 warriors on the frontiers, but could not tell the number of their killed and wounded. They said they would attend the treaty and bury the tomahawk.”[^[41]]

A treaty of peace was finally in sight–the treaty of Portage des Sioux! And now up to this time, it must be owned by the impartial mind that rather than receiving any wrong from the Americans, Black Hawk, without any provocation and contrary to his promises, had waged a merciless war on the feeble settlements simply because he hated the Americans–the enemy of his friends, the British. Drake, to condone those atrocities, has stated on page 90 of his “Life of Black Hawk:” “Some palliation for these outrages may be found in the fact that the British on the northwest frontier, long after they were officially notified of the peace, continued to excite the Indians to acts of violence against the United States, and, indeed, participated in them likewise.” This statement, from a man snugly ensconced in an upholstered chair, must be regarded as magnanimous! We have found here Black Hawk the cold-blooded aggressor and murderer, and when he subsequently stated that the treaty signed by him in 1816 was not made known to him, can he be believed? Armstrong, another apologist for the “poor Indian,” stated that Black Hawk was a truthful Indian, though he “withheld facts that were material.”[^[42]] 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. Black Hawk was this and more–he was a British mercenary.