Great Indian Chief of the West; Or, Life and Adventures of Black Hawk

by Benjamin Drake

From the treaty of peace, between the United States and the Sac Indians of Rock river, in 1816, to the commencement of hostilities between these parties in 1832, the life of Black Hawk seems to have been quiet and monotonous, occasionally relieved by a warlike excursion, but generally spent in hunting, throughout the winter, and in loitering about his village, during the summer. Such, indeed, is the life of most Indians. Having no intellectual pursuits and little desire for the acquisition of property, beyond the supply of their immediate wants, they have in reality but two sources of excitement—war and the chase. They take no interest in the domestic affairs of their families, have little taste for the pursuits of agriculture, and, if not engaged in hostile excursions, in following the deer, or in trapping the beaver, they sink into listless inactivity. It is highly probable that many of their wars are undertaken, more for the gratification of that love of excitement, which is an indestructible element of the human mind, than from any constitutional proneness to cruelty and bloodshed. They need both physical and intellectual excitation, and having none of the resources which mental and moral culture throws open to civilized man, they seek it in making war upon each other or upon the wild animals which share with them the woods and the prairies.

Subsequently to the treaty of 1816, and perhaps in that year, the government of the United States built Fort Armstrong, upon Rock Island, in the Mississippi river, and but a few miles from the village where Black Hawk and his band resided. This measure, though not actually opposed, was by no means acceptable to them. They probably did not relish the gradual advances upon them, of the white population; but they entertained, moreover, a special regard for this beautiful island, which is justly considered one of the finest in the whole extent of the Mississippi. It is fertile, and produces many varieties of nuts and fruits, and being in the rapids of the stream, the waters which lave its shores, yield an abundance of excellent fish. In addition to all this, they have a traditionary belief, that the island was the favorite residence of a good spirit which dwelt in a cave in the rocks on which Fort Armstrong now stands. This spirit had often been seen by the Indians, but after the erection of the Fort, alarmed by the noise and intrusion of the white man, it spread its beautiful, swan-like wings, and disappeared. During the year 1817, the Sacs sent out some warriors against the Sioux, and succeeded in killing several of them, but Black Hawk was not of the party. About this time, his eldest son sickened and died, and within a short period afterwards, he lost his youngest daughter. This affliction seems to have made a deep impression upon him; and according to a custom common among the Indians, he blacked his face, and for the ensuing two years lived at home, in seclusion, drinking water at mid-day, and eating boiled corn but sparingly, in the evening. In the winter of 1819-20, there was a disturbance between the Sacs and Ioways, one of the latter having killed a young man belonging to the former. Under the agreement of a late council between these two tribes, the old custom of appeasing the friends of one who had been killed, by presents, had been abolished, and each party had promised, that in future, the murderer should be surrendered up, that he might be punished with death. A party of Sacs, of which Black Hawk was one, agreed to visit the Ioway village on this occasion, and when about to depart, called at the lodge of the young man who had committed the outrage, to take him along. He was sick, but still ready to accompany them. His brother interfered, and insisted that he was too unwell to travel; that he would himself go and die in his place, and finally set off with the party. On the seventh day, they reached the Ioway village. They dismounted a short distance from it, and bid farewell to their young brave, who went calmly forwards, alone, singing his death-song, and seated himself in the middle of the lodges. One of the Ioway chiefs went out to Black Hawk, who told him the brother had come in the place of the young man that had committed the murder, he being sick. Black Hawk and his party, now mounted their horses and set off on their return; and casting their eyes towards the village, saw the Ioways, armed with spears and clubs, gathering around the young prisoner. At night the returning party, having stopped and kindled a fire, were suddenly alarmed by the tramping of horses. They immediately stood to their arms, but were soon relieved, by finding, instead of a foe, their young brave, unhurt and in the possession of two horses. They ascertained that the Ioways, at first threatened him with instant death, but finally, changing their purpose, had given him something to eat, smoked the pipe with him, and presenting him with two horses, bid him return home in safety. The generous conduct of the Ioways is deserving of praise, but the genuine affection of this young brave, in nobly volunteering to die in place of his sick brother, presents one of those rare cases of self-devotion, which should be held in remembrance.

In the following autumn, Black Hawk and some of his band went on a visit to their British father at Malden and received presents from him. A medal was given to Black Hawk for his fidelity to the British in the late war, and he was requested to come up annually, to that place, with his band, and receive such presents, as had been promised them by Colonel Dixon, when they joined the English forces. These visits were regularly made, it is believed, from that time down to the year 1832. It is owing to this circumstance that Black Hawk's party has long been known by the appellation of the "British Band."

In the winter of 1822, Black Hawk and his party, encamped on the Two-rivers, for the purpose of hunting, and while there was so badly treated by some white men, that his prejudices against the Americans were greatly strengthened. He was accused of having killed the hogs of some settlers, who, meeting him one day in the woods, wrested his gun from his hands, and discharging it in the air, beat him so severely with sticks that for several nights he was unable to sleep. They then returned him his gun and ordered him to leave the neighborhood. Of the perpetration of this outrage, there is little doubt, while the fact of Black Hawk's having committed the offence charged upon him, rests, at best, upon suspicion. Supposing him to have been guilty, and the supposition is at variance with the whole tenor of his intercourse with the whites, it was on their part, one of those brutal appeals to club law, which are but too often practised towards the Indians; and which, when avenged by them, not unfrequently brings upon their nation, the power and the arms of the United States.

The ensuing summer, the expediency of a removal of the whole of the Sacs and Foxes, to the west side of the Mississippi, was urged upon them by the agent at Fort Armstrong. The principal Fox chief, as well as Keokuk, assented to the removal. The latter sent a messenger through the village informing the Indians that it was the wish of their great Father, the President, that they should remove, and he pointed out the Ioway river as presenting a fine situation for their new village. There was a party, however, among the Sacs, made up principally of the "British Band," who were decidedly opposed to a removal; and they called upon their old leader, Black Hawk, for his opinion on the question. He took the ground that the land on which their village stood had never been sold; that the Americans had, therefore, no right to insist upon the measure, and that as a matter of policy he was opposed to it. The old man was probably swayed in his decision by another cause. He felt that his power in the tribe was waning before the rising popularity of Keokuk. Here was a question on which their people differed in opinion. By placing himself at the head of one of the parties, he might recover his influence, or at least sustain himself against the overshadowing ascendancy of his rival. He had an interview with Keokuk to see if the matter could not be adjusted with the President, by giving him other lands in exchange for those on which their village stood; and the latter promised to see the great chief at St. Louis, on the subject. During the following winter, while Black Hawk and his party were absent on a hunting expedition, several white families arrived at their village, destroyed some of their lodges and commenced making fences over their corn-fields. Black Hawk upon hearing of this movement, promptly returned to Rock river, and found his own lodge occupied by the whites. He went to Fort Armstrong and complained to the interpreter, the agent being absent. He crossed the Mississippi and travelled several days to converse with the Winnebago sub-agent, who concurred with the interpreter in advising the Sacs to remove to Keokuk's settlement on the Ioway. He then visited the prophet, Wabokieshiek, or White-Cloud, whose opinions were held in much respect by the Sacs and Winnebagoes. He urged Black Hawk not to remove, but to persuade Keokuk and his party to return to Rock river, assuring them that if they remained quietly at their village, the whites would not venture to disturb them. He then rejoined his hunting party, and in the spring when they returned to their village, they found the white settlers still there, and that the greater part of their corn-fields had been enclosed by fences. About that time Keokuk visited Rock river and endeavored to persuade the remainder of the Sacs to follow him to the Ioway. He had accomplished nothing with the great chief at St. Louis, in regard to their remaining at their village, and as a matter of policy, that peace might be preserved, he was warmly in favor of the proposed removal. Black Hawk considered it an act of cowardice to yield up their village and the graves of their fathers, to strangers, who had no right to the soil, and the breach between Keokuk and himself was widened.

The white immigrants continued to increase, and the Sac village was the great point of attraction to them. It was situated on the neck of land formed by the junction of Rock river with the Mississippi, and had been the chief village of the tribe for sixty or seventy years. "Their women had broken the surface of the surrounding prairie with their hoes, and enclosed with a kind of flimsy pole fence, many fields, which were annually cultivated by them, in the raising of corn, beans, potatoes and squashes. They had also erected several hundred houses of various dimensions, some probably an hundred feet in length by forty or fifty broad; which were constructed of poles and forks, arranged so as to form a kind of frame, which was then enclosed with the bark of trees, which, being peeled off and dried under a weight for the purpose of keeping it expanded, was afterwards confined to the walls and roof by means of cords, composed of the bark of other trees. This indeed is a delightful spot:—on the north-west rolls the majestic Mississippi, while the dark forests which clothe the numerous islands of Rock river, with its several rippling streams on the south-east, form a delightful contrast, which is rendered still more pleasing from the general declivity of the surrounding country, as it sinks gradually away to the shores of these rivers. This ancient village had literally become the grave-yard of the nation. Scarcely an individual could be found in the whole nation, who had not deposited the remains of some relative, in or near to this place. Thither the mother, with mournful and melancholy step, annually repaired to pay a tribute of respect to her departed offspring; while the weeping sisters and loud lamenting widows, joined the procession of grief; sometimes, in accordance with their own feelings, no doubt, but always in pursuance of an established custom of their nation, from time immemorial. On these occasions they carefully clear away every spear of grass or other vegetable, which they find growing near the grave, and make such repairs as may be thought necessary. They also carry to the grave some kind of food, which they leave there for the spirit of the deceased: and before they conclude these ceremonies, they often, in a very melancholy and lamenting mood, address the dead, enquiring how they fare, and who, or whether any one performs for them the kind offices of mother, sister or wife; together with many other enquiries which a frantic imagination may happen to suggest. This being one of the most important religious duties, is scrupulously observed by all the better class of this people."[4]

The whites who established themselves at this place, in violation of the laws of congress, and the provisions of the treaty of 1804, committed various aggressions upon the Indians, such as destroying their corn, killing their domestic animals, and whipping the women and children. They carried with them, as articles of traffic, whiskey and other intoxicating liquors, and by distributing them in the tribe, made drunkenness and scenes of debauchery common. Black Hawk and the other chiefs of the band, remonstrated against these encroachments, and especially in regard to the introduction of spirituous liquors among their people: and, upon one occasion, when a white man continued, openly, to sell whiskey to them, the old chief, taking with him one or two companions, went to his house, rolled out the barrel of whiskey, broke in the head, and emptied its contents upon the ground, in presence of the owner. This was done, as he alleges, from the fear that some of the white persons would be killed by his people when in a state of intoxication. Thus things wore on until 1827. During that winter, while the Indians were making their periodical hunt, some of the whites, in the hope of expediting their removal to the west side of the Mississippi, set on fire, in one day, about forty of their lodges, a number of which were entirely consumed. When the Indians returned in the spring and demanded satisfaction for the destruction of their property, they were met by new insults and outrages.

In the summer of 1829, Black Hawk happened to meet, at Rock island, with the late governor Coles, of whom he had heard as a great chief of Illinois, in company with "another chief" as he calls him—Judge Hall. Having failed in his appeals to the Indian agents, for redress of the grievances of his people, he determined to apply to these two chiefs, on the subject, and accordingly waited upon them for that purpose.

He spoke of the indignity perpetrated upon himself, (his having been beaten with sticks by the whites,) with the feeling that a respectable person among us would have shown under such circumstances; and pointing to a black mark on his face, said that he wore it as a symbol of disgrace. The customs of his nation required, that he should avenge the wrong that he had received, but he chose rather to submit to it for the present than involve them in a war. And this was the only alternative, for if an Indian should kill, or even strike a white man, the aggression would be eagerly seized upon and exaggerated; the whole frontier population would rush to war, and the Indians would be hunted from their houses like wild beasts. He spoke of the intrusion upon their fields, the destruction of their growing corn, the ploughing up of the graves of their fathers, and the beating of their women; and added, "we dare not resent any of these things. If we did, it would be said that the Indians were disturbing the white people, and troops would be sent out to destroy us." We enquired, "why do you not represent these things to our government?—the President is a wise and a good ruler, who would protect you." "Our great father is too far off, he cannot hear our voice." "But you could have letters written and sent to him." "So we could," was his reply, "but the white men would write letters, and say that we told lies. Our great father would not believe an Indian, in preference to his own children."[5] Black Hawk in reference to this interview, says, "Neither of them could do any thing for us; but both evidently appeared very sorry. It would give me great pleasure at all times, to take these two chiefs by the hand."

Under the seventh article of the treaty made at St. Louis in 1804, it is provided that, "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." It was not until the year, 1829, that any part of the lands upon Rock river, were brought into market by the United States. It follows as a matter of course, that all the white settlers upon them prior to this period, were trespassers, being there in violation of the laws of Congress, and the provisions of the treaty. Although the frontier settlements of Illinois, had not approached within fifty or sixty miles of Rock river, and the lands for a still greater distance around it, had not been offered for sale, yet in this year, government was induced to make sale of a few quarter sections, at the mouth of Rock river, including the Sac village. The reason for this uncalled for measure, is obvious—to evade the provisions of the foregoing treaty of cession, and create a pretext for the immediate removal of the Indians to the west side of the Mississippi.