The Black Hawk War

During the Indian Removal Act and force march of the tribes in the South, a group of Sauks, Fox, Meskwakis, and Kickapoo also known as the "British Band" because they sometimes flew a British flag to defy claims of U.S. sovereignty, and because they hoped to gain the support of the British at Fort Malden in Canada.

In 1830, seeking to make way for settlers moving into Illinois, the United States required the Sauk to move and accept new lands in present-day Iowa. There they struggled to prepare enough acreage for their crops. The winter of 1831-1832 was extremely difficult. In April 1832, Black Hawk led one thousand Sauk and Fox people back to northern Illinois. Black Hawk hoped to forge a military alliance with the Winnebago and other tribes, intending to plant corn on their ancestral farmland. Prior to migrating to the Iowa territory the tribes originated around modern day Rock island, Illinois in the northwest corner  and southwestern Wisconsin.

Land Highlighted in yellow was ceded to the US Government as a result of a treaty signed in St. Louis in 1804.

Fearing this resurgence of nearly a thousand men, women and children; white settlers became uneasy and immediately stood up a volunteer militia. Under inclusion of these volunteers were young and aspiring Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis. The militia began their hunt of Black hawk at an abandon Sauk village Saukenuk (Black hawk's home village) at a point where the Mississippi and the Rock river meet, they then worked their way North. When the militia caught up, Black Hawk reconsidered his actions and decided to surrender. Yet an undisciplined militia ignored a peace flag and attacked the Natives. The Indian warriors promptly returned fire. The militia retreated in a panic, many forgetting their firearms. Black hawk collected the weapons and retreated northward along the Rock River into Wisconsin. 

With hostilities now underway, and few allies to depend upon, Black Hawk sought a place of refuge for the women, children, and elderly in his band. Accepting an offer from the Rock River Ho-Chunks, the band traveled further upriver to Lake Koshkonong in the Michigan Territory and camped. With the non-combatants secure, members the British Band, with a number of Ho-Chunk and Potawatomi allies, began raiding white settlers. Not all Native Americans in the region supported this turn of events; most notably, Potawatomi chief Shabonna rode throughout the settlements, warning whites of the impending attacks. The initial raiding parties consisted primarily of Ho-Chunk and Potawatomi warriors.

The first attack came on May 19, 1832, when Ho-Chunks ambushed six men near Buffalo Grove, Illinois, killing a man named William Durley.  Durley's scalped and mutilated body was found by Indian agent Felix St. Vrain. The Indian agent was himself killed and mutilated, along with three other men, several days later at
One such incident was the Indian Creek massacre. In the spring of 1832, Potawatomis living along Indian Creek were upset that a settler named William Davis had dammed the creek, preventing fish from reaching their village.  There were several small skirmish's with the tribesman as outlined below on the map provided.

Finally, on August 2, U.S. soldiers and militia men had Black Hawk and his men, women and children on the run as they attempted to ford the Mississippi River, near what is now Victory in Vernon County. Ignoring a truce flag, the troops aboard a river steamboat fired cannons and rifles, killing hundreds, including many children. Many of those who made it across the river were slain by the Eastern Sioux, allies of the Americans in 1832. Only 150 of the one thousand members of Black Hawk's band survived the events of the summer of 1832. Survivors rejoined the Sauk and Fox who had remained in Iowa. Shortly after the massacre, Black Hawk surrendered to officials at Fort Crawford, Prairie Du Chien. He was imprisoned for four years then eventually the U. S. government sent him to live with surviving members of the Sauk and Fox nation.


The Black Hawk War resulted in the deaths of 77 white settlers, militiamen, and regular soldiers. Estimates of how many members of the British Band died during the conflict range from about 450 to 600, or about half of the 1,100 people who entered Illinois with Black Hawk in 1832.

The Battle of Bad Axe 1832

Black Hawk