1-2 Black Hawk - The Early Years

Illistration of Saukenuk - on the Sinnissippi River

In his autobiography, Black Hawk described his youth at Saukenuk as rich, happy, and contented. He wanted for nothing, with plenty of food and clothing, good fishing and hunting grounds, and adequate shelter and resources.   His father, Pyesa, was tribal Medicine Man, a position of high esteem.  Thanks to a close association with the Meskwaki, who lived in peaceful proximity to the Sauk, there were hundreds of acres of tended fields of corn, beans and pumpkins that would give them food through the long winters.  It is here that Black Hawk learned to run, and swim, and fish, and hunt, and laugh, and love, and kill.  It is easy to imagine the life of the young Black Sparrow Hawk, complete with dares and deeds, successes and failures, firsts and bests.  At birth, each male child of the Sauk Tribe was literally marked alternately as ‘black’ or ‘white’, a lifelong and unchanging designation.  This effectively separated the tribe into two equal halves, useful for sport and competition of all kinds.  As a Black Sauk, Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak would compete for the glory of all Black Sauks.  Honor and prestige came with the most fish caught, the biggest deer, the fastest runner, the most enemies killed, and the winners of the La Crosse tournaments.  A thousand competitions large and small added to the collective goal of one-upmanship for the Black or White Sauks leading to endless boasting, laughter and story-telling among the tribe.  The competition served Black Hawk well, being strong, smart, swift and skilled.  

Keokuk

He formed life-long friendships and bonds, not the least of which was with an age-mate by the name of Ne-o-po-pe.  Conversely, it also served to form life-long rivals, of which Keokuk, the half-Indian, half-White tribe-mate was one.

In 1776 the American colonies were fighting against the British for independence, but the North American continent was riddled with claims of sovereignty. The Spanish, the French, the British and others all claimed to rule, govern, or own various vast tracks within the continent.  None could survive without accounting for the Native American Indians, whose various bands, tribes and nations had covered the landscape in loosely organized regions of dominance for the last 12,000 years.  Black Hawk was a nine-year-old boy, not yet a man, but filled with passion for his land and his people.  Fighting, killing, and war were a part of life for Native Americans, and the Sauk had many enemies, especially the Osage and Souix.  Raids and killing were common, even expected.  To survive, the Sauk, like any other people, found benefit in alliances.  There was always need for friends, because there would always be enemies.

Once, while Black Hawk was still a young man, not yet a ‘true man’, he found himself in possession of information which he needed to share with the village elders.  However, the elders were in council inside a tent where only true men could enter.  Only those who had made their first enemy kill were allowed inside, so Black Hawk was forced to wait.  Eventually, he was able to talk to someone who could speak on his behalf and special dispensation was granted so Black Hawk could enter long enough to share his information and then leave.

Sauk and Fox War Dance

At age 15, Black Hawk accompanied his father Pyesa on a raid against the Osage, where he finally won manhood by killing his first enemy.  Young Black Hawk tried to establish himself as a war captain by leading other raids. He had limited success until in 1786, at age 19, he led 200 men in a battle against the Osage, in which he personally killed five men and one woman.  Soon after, he joined his father in a raid against the Cherokee along the Meramec River in Missouri.  Black Hawk was uninjured in the fighting, but his father was less fortunate.  After Pyesa died from wounds received in the battle, Black Hawk inherited the Sauk medicine bundle which his father had carried, giving him an important role in the tribe.

Black Hawk mourned greatly for his father, and then resumed leading raiding parties over the next twenty-five years, usually targeting the traditional enemy, the Osage.  Black Hawk grew to become a great warrior and leader among his people, though never a ‘Chief’, a title which he is often mistakenly granted.  He achieved status through his exploits as a warrior and by leading successful raiding parties.

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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)