1-11 Black Hawk's Capture

After the Bad Axe Massacre, Black Hawk himself once again eluded capture or death.  The Americans offered a reward of $100 and 40 horses for his capture.  Three weeks later, a Ho-Chunk passing by a campsite near what is now Tomah, WI saw Black Hawk and reported the finding to his Chief.  A delegation was sent to the camp, and Black Hawk was told that even now the Americans were seeking to kill him, and would never allow him to escape.  Black Hawk was convinced to surrender, and assured of safety by the Ho-Chunk, on August 27, 1832, Black Hawk and Wabokieshiek (White Cloud) surrendered at Prairie du Chien to Indian agent Joseph M. Street.

Jefferson Barracks
St. Louis, MO

Following the war, the defeated Black Hawk was held in captivity at Jefferson Barracks near Saint Louis, Missouri together with Neopope, White Cloud, and eight other leaders.  After eight months, in April 1833, they were taken east, as ordered by U.S. President Andrew Jackson. The men were taken by steamboat, carriage, and railroad, and met with large crowds wherever they went. Jackson wanted them to be impressed with the power of the United States. Once in Washington, D.C., they met with Jackson and Secretary of War Lewis Cass.  Afterward, they were delivered to their final destination, prison 

at Fortress Monroe in Norfolk, Virginia.  They were held only a few weeks at the prison, during which time they posed for portraits by different artists.

On June 5, 1833, the men were sent west by steamboat on a circuitous route that took them through many large cities. Again, the men were a spectacle everywhere they went, and were greeted by huge crowds of people in cities such as Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York.  In the west, closer to the battle sites and history of conflict, the reception was much different.  For instance, in Detroit, a crowd burned and hanged effigies of the prisoners.

Near the end of his captivity in 1833, Black Hawk told his life story to Antoine LeClaire, a government interpreter. Edited by the local reporter J.B. Patterson, Black Hawk's account was the first Native American autobiography published in the United States. The Autobiography of Ma-Ka-Tai-Me-She-Kia-Kiak, or Black Hawk, Embracing the Traditions of his Nation, Various Wars In Which He Has Been Engaged, and His Account of the Cause and General History of the Black Hawk War of 1832, His Surrender, and Travels Through the United States. Also Life, Death and Burial of the Old Chief, Together with a History of the Black Hawk War was published in 1833 in Cincinnati, Ohio.  The book immediately became a best seller and has gone through numerous editions.



In an 1838 address at Fort Madison, in the year of his death, Black Hawk said the following:

"It has pleased the Great Spirit that I am here today— I have eaten with my white friends.  The earth is our mother— we are now on it, with the Great Spirit above us; it is good.  I hope we are all friends here.  A few winters ago I was fighting against you.  I did wrong, perhaps, but that is past—it is buried—let it be forgotten.

Rock River was a beautiful country. I liked my towns, my cornfields, and the home of my people.  I fought for it.  It is now yours.  Keep it as we did— it will produce you good crops.

I thank the Great Spirit that I am now friendly with my white brethren.  We are here together, we have eaten together; we are friends; it is his wish and mine.  I thank you for your friendship.  I was once a great warrior; I am now poor.  Keokuk has been the cause of my present situation; but I do not attach blame to him.  I am now old.  I have looked upon the Mississippi since I have been a child.  I love the great river.  I have dwelt upon its banks from the time I was an infant.  I look upon it now.  I shake hands with you, and as it is my wish, I hope you are my friends."

—Address by Black Hawk, July 4, 1838, at Fort Madison.

Return to Table of Contents

(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)