1-10 The Mississippi Runs Red - Bad Axe Massacre

Kickapoo River

Kickapoo River Valley

Black Hawk himself escaped the Battle of Wisconsin Heights and rejoined his party, fleeing west towards the Mississippi River.  On July 26th, Atkinson and his force of Army Regulars joined the militia and the combined group of 1300 troops followed the doomed band westward, following a trail littered with dead bodies, discarded personal items, and the carcasses of horses that had to be eaten to fend off starvation.  Black Hawk and his band forded the Kickapoo River, intending to make for the Mississippi River somewhat to the north.  When they reached the Mississippi on August 1, 1832, there was no chance of escape.

"Battle of Bad Axe," engraved by Ernest Heinemann (1848-1912), from original by William de la Montagne Cary (1840-1922)

What has been labeled ‘The Battle of Bad Axe’ was the most tragic and one-sided event in the entire conflict, and historically the most shameful.  Many accounts exist, retold from the points of view of both the soldiers and the Indians.  History, as they say, is written by the survivors.  The events which truly took place on that piece of shoreline, beginning at 9:00 a.m. on that hot August morning, is probably a mix or compilation of all the stories.  Truth, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

Original by William de la Montagne Cary (1840-1922)

Meanwhile, General Atkinson had sent scouts ahead to arrange use of a steamship called the Warrior and to have it fitted with a single six-pound cannon.  They steamed north from Fort Crawford, while a contingency of American-allied Dakotas, Menominees and Ho-Chunks watched the shores of the Mississippi.  With an army behind, an ambush ahead, and overwhelming firepower in favor of the whites, Black Hawk’s fleeing and starving band was truly without options.  On August 1, members of Black Hawk’s band, now reduced to about 600 in number, raised a white flag to the approaching steamship in yet another attempt to surrender.  Some accounts describe an Indian ploy, some describe a heinous act of firing on a surrendering adversary.  Shots were fired.  Twenty-six Indians were killed in the exchange of rifle-fire and cannon-fire.  One militiaman on the steamship was injured.  Black Hawk and his people faded back into the woods in retreat.

Bad Axe Watershed - Battle Site

Black Hawk, once again, decided to flee to the north, this intending to seek help from the Ojibwa in Minnesota and Canada.  Only about 50 people went with him, including The Prophet, Wabokieshiek.  The rest remained behind, intent on crossing the Mississippi and heading south to rejoin their people back in Iowa.  

Bad Axe Battle Site

The next morning, August 2, 1832, Black Hawk went north, while the rest of his band went a few miles south, trying to cross the river near an island now named for the battle.  When the band was spotted trying to cross the river, the steamship returned, and the ensuing bloodbath resulted in the death of hundreds of Indians.  Many were hunted and killed while on the island; over 100 drown in an attempt to swim across the river.  Heart-chilling tales recounted by soldiers tell of shooting Indians, warriors and non-combatants alike, as they swam, their boat pulling alongside the helpless victims so as not to waste ammunition. 

Black Hawk learned of the fighting as he went north, and turned back to rejoin his people, but arrived too late.  In the most wretched anguish of his life, Black Hawk turned north again seeking refuge. 

There were a small number of survivors at Bad Axe.  Some were captured, but some escaped, only to be pursued and killed by their long-time enemies, the Souix, who were seeking revenge for past hostilities and status by participating in a sanctioned ‘war’ which would not be halted or condemned by the Americans.

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(Key Terms: Ma-Ka-Tai-Me-She-Kia-Kiak, Black Sparrow Hawk, Black Hawk, 1767, Saukenuk, Pyesa, Rock Island, Black Hawk’s Watch Tower, Black Hawk State Historic Site, Hauberg Museum, Sauk, Sac, Meskwaki, Fox, Rock River, Sinnissippi River, Mississippi River, War of 1812, British Band, Great Britain, Treaty of 1804, Treaties, Ceded Land, William Henry Harrison, Quashquame, Keokuk, Fort Armstrong, Samuel Whiteside, Black Hawk War of 1832, Black Hawk Conflict, Scalp, Great Sauk Trail, Black Hawk Trail, Prophetstown, Wabokieshiek, White Cloud, The Winnebago Prophet, Ne-o-po-pe, Dixon’s Ferry, Isaiah Stillman, The Battle of Stillman’s Run, Old Man’s Creek, Sycamore Creek, Abraham Lincoln, Chief Shabbona, Felix St. Vrain, Lake Koshkonong, Fort Koshkonong, Fort Atkinson, Henry Atkinson, Andrew Jackson, Lewis Cass, Winfield Scott, Chief Black Wolf, Henry Dodge, James Henry, White Crow, Rock River Rapids, The Four Lakes, Battle of Wisconsin Heights, Benjamin Franklin Smith, Wisconsin River, Kickapoo River, Soldier’s Grove, Steamboat Warrior, Steamship Warrior, Fort Crawford, Battle of Bad Axe, Bad Axe Massacre, Joseph M. Street, Antoine LeClaire, Native American, Indian, Michigan Territory, Indiana Territory, Louisiana Territory, Osage, Souix, Potawatomi, Ojibwe, Ottawa, Ho-Chunk)