On the 14th day of May, 1832, the militia under Major Stillman arrived within eight miles of the camp of Black Hawk who sent three Indians under a flag of truce to negotiate a treaty with the whites. The wily chief also sent five other Indians to a point where they could watch the unarmed braves carrying the white flag. Stillman’s men refusing to recognize the white flag set upon the Indians, killed one and captured the others, and then set off after the other five who held their guns crosswise over their heads as a sign of friendship. The whites killed two of the five and chased the others into Black Hawk’s camp. Then the Indians set upon Stillman’s army, cut it to pieces, and chased the scattered remnants for many miles. The place of that battle is known as “Stillman’s Run.”[7] The disgrace of the entire affair has been a dark blot upon the white man’s bravery and his manner of dealing with the Indians. Up to this time the Indians had committed no crime nor act of war against the whites.[8]
[7] “Life of Albert Sidney Johnston,” Johnston, 35.
[8] 12 Wis. Hist. Col., 230; “History of Indiana,” Esarey, 323; “The Black Hawk War,” 129-144.
BLACK HAWK AS A CIVILIAN.
Immediately after the engagement Black Hawk called another council of his braves, at which it was determined to fight to the last and to send out small bands of Indians to the various white settlements to destroy them. Among the great warriors present at that council was the celebrated Chief Shabona (Shab-eh-ney)[9] who fought beside Tecumseh at his down-fall at the battle of the Thames. Shabona pleaded with the Indian chiefs to give up the war and to return to Iowa, and when they refused to do so, he, his son Pypagee, and his nephew Pyps, mounted ponies and rode to the various white settlements and notified the people of the danger of the Indians. The first horse with which Shabona started, dropped dead under him; but he obtained another horse from a farmer and rode day and night until he had warned the whites at all the settlements.
“Lo, the poor Indian! whose untutored mind
Sees God in the clouds, or hears Him in the wind.”
—Pope.
[9] 7 Wis. Hist. Col., 323, 415; “The Black Hawk War,” Stevens, 160.