Black Hawk War
The Black Hawk War was a conflict that occurred in 1832 between the United States and the Sauk and Fox tribes, primarily led by Black Hawk, a prominent Sauk leader. This war was rooted in tensions arising from the encroachment of American settlers into tribal lands, particularly following the controversial 1804 treaty that ceded vast territories without proper consent from the tribes. The Sauks, alongside their allies the Fox and Winnebago tribes, initially resisted the pressures of American expansion but faced significant challenges as traditional ways of life were threatened.
Black Hawk, a committed traditionalist, sought to reclaim his people's land and oppose removal pressures, while rival leaders like Keokuk advocated for accommodation with American authorities. The conflict escalated as Black Hawk and his followers attempted to reoccupy their homeland, leading to a series of confrontations with U.S. military forces. The war culminated in the Battle of Bad Axe on August 2, 1832, which resulted in a devastating defeat for the Sauks and significant loss of life.
In the aftermath, a treaty signed in September 1832 formally ended the conflict, resulting in the loss of millions of acres of land for the Sauk and their allies, as well as a promise of limited financial support. The war marked a turning point for the Sauks, who, demoralized and impoverished, ceased organized resistance against U.S. expansion.
Black Hawk War
Date: 1832
Place: Illinois, Wisconsin
Tribes affected: Fox, Sauk, Winnebago
Significance: Defeated by U.S. troops, the Sauks, Fox, and Winnebagos lost most of their land in futile resistance to white settlement
Into the early nineteenth century, the Sauks, Fox, and Winnebagos were relatively free of white pressure, most warfare being against such enemies as the Sioux or Osage. Their traditional world remained strong until the post-revolutionary decades. Yet soon American settlers, migrating west in steady streams, threatened to destroy the old ways.
Historical Background
Fleeing powerful eastern rivals, the Sauks (Black Hawk’s people) and their main allies, the Fox (Mesquakies), had migrated into parts of Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa by the late 1600’s. They became farmers and trappers, trading regularly with the French, whose hunger for furs and competition with the British would embroil the tribes in warfare.
By the time of Black Hawk’s birth in 1776, the Sauks were settled near present-day Rock Island, Illinois, and in eastern Iowa. His childhood and youth were years of seasonal moves dictated by farming, fishing, and trapping. Frequent warfare gave warriors a high status within the tribe, and Black Hawk joined a war party at fifteen, seeking family and tribal respect. By his thirties, he was a premier war leader and a committed traditionalist who, at a terrible cost to his people, would resist change.
Before 1800, neither the Sauks nor the Mesquakies had signed a peace treaty with the United States, resenting bitterly the seeming American favoritism toward the hated Osages. In 1804, however, the United States, Sauk, and Mesquakie leaders signed a treaty wherein the chiefs ceded fifty million acres of land. Disregarding any Indian rights, white settlers poured into the territory. They burned Indian homes and cornfields while the Indians received neither adequate compensation nor protection from the federal government. Black Hawk protested, claiming that the chiefs had not understood the full implications of the 1804 treaty and that his people were being cheated.
Tribal cohesion was splintering among the Sauks and the Mesquakies. Traditionalists—with Black Hawk as their main spokesman—wanted to retain the old ways and therefore sought to resist the Americans. Nontraditionalists—led by a young Sauk warrior named Keokuk—called for accommodation with the Americans. Keokuk had visited Washington and feared the strength of the government, but Black Hawk and his followers, relatively isolated, refused to compromise.
The rivalry between Black Hawk and Keokuk broke the Sauks into factions; gradually Keokuk’s influence grew stronger. In a council held at Prairie du Chien in 1825, Keokuk was a major spokesman for the Sauks and the Mesquakies. Black Hawk refused to attend and brushed aside the council’s decisions for peace. He was further enraged when, in 1827, the government began plans to remove all Indians from Illinois as of 1829.
The 1832 War
White squatters moved into Saukenuk, Black Hawk’s home and the major Sauk village. In July, 1829, the United States General Land Office announced that the land around Saukenuk would go on sale in October. Black Hawk and his people—some three hundred warriors and their families—vowed to reoccupy their land. General Edmund P. Gaines, commander of the army’s Western Department in St. Louis, led troops to the area.
Gaines and Black Hawk confronted each other, the latter insisting that the treaty of 1804 was invalid and that he would not leave Saukenuk. Gaines, in turn, warned that he was there to enforce the treaty, either peacefully or by force. Keokuk persuaded some Indian families to join his peace faction, but Black Hawk resisted removal, counting on aid from nearby Winnebagos and Potawatomis.
On June 25, 1831, soldiers attacked Saukenuk at dawn. Black Hawk and his followers had left during the night, crossing to the west side of the Mississippi. His village in ruins, Black Hawk signed a peace treaty with Gaines on June 30. Gaines then ordered white settlers at Rock River to provide the Indians with corn. Only token amounts were sent, however, and Black Hawk’s band faced starvation.
Convinced by his chief lieutenant, Napope, that the British would assist him and that the Potawatomis and Chippewas were also ready to enlist, Black Hawk chose to go to war. By early 1832 he commanded some six hundred warriors and prepared to retake Saukenuk. Hoping to defuse the situation, General Henry Atkinson called on friendly Sauk and Mesquakie chiefs to negotiate and warned that if Black Hawk crossed to the east side of the Mississippi his troops would attack. Neither the Potawatomis nor the Winnebagos gave Black Hawk the help he expected.
General Atkinson had mustered more than seventeen hundred Illinois militia into federal service in early May, 1832, combining them with his regular army troops, numbering three hundred. By late May he led these forces toward Rock River. The militia was in advance, and, fearing treachery, they killed several of Black Hawk’s scouts carrying a flag of truce. The Sauks fought back, defeating the militia in what is called the Battle of Stillman’s Run. The Sauks kept on the move, eluding Atkinson and his men.
During the summer, Black Hawk’s band raided frontier settlements for food and livestock. Atkinson sent Colonel Henry Dodge to lead a militia against the band. Weakened by malnutrition, Black Hawk and his band were overtaken by the militia in late July, 1832. As the band began crossing the Wisconsin River, the militia attacked. Although most of the band escaped, many lives were lost. The remainder pressed on toward the Mississippi, reaching it on August 1.
The Battles of August 1 and 2
While the Sauks were crossing the river, the steamboat Warrior appeared with troops aboard. They opened fire, and a fierce battle ensued. The Warrior broke off the fight when it ran low on fuel. The main battle between the Sauks and the army began on the morning of August 2. Atkinson’s and Dodge’s men, supported by the Warrior, trapped the Sauks and began a systematic slaughter. The Battle of Bad Axe, resulting in some 150 to 300 Sauk deaths, ended the Black Hawk War. Black Hawk and perhaps fifty others escaped, heading for LaCrosse, Wisconsin, site of a Winnebago village. There they decided to surrender, traveling to Prairie du Chien, headquarters of the Indian agency. Black Hawk, two of his sons, and eight other ringleaders were imprisoned, but all were released within a year.
A treaty, signed on September 21, 1832, formally ended the war. The Sauks, Mesquakies, and Winnebagos lost approximately six million acres of land—most of eastern Iowa— receiving in return a promise of an annuity of $20,000 for thirty years. Broken in spirit and poverty-stricken, the Sauks and their allies never again attempted armed resistance against the United States.
Bibliography
Gurko, Miriam. Indian America: The Black Hawk War. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1970.
Jackson, Donald, ed. Black Hawk. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1964.
Josephy, Alvin M., Jr. The Patriot Chiefs: A Chronicle of American Indian Resistance. New York: Viking Press, 1961. Reprint. New York: Penguin Books, 1976.
Nichols, Roger L. Black Hawk and the Warrior’s Path. Arlington Heights, Ill.: Harlan Davidson, 1992.
Utley, Robert M., and Wilcomb E. Washburn. The Indian Wars. Rev. ed. New York: American Heritage, 1985.
Waters, Frank. Brave Are My People: Indian Heroes Not Forgotten. Santa Fe, N.Mex.: Clear Light Publishers, 1992.