1-5 Return to Saukenuk - April 1832

In the fall of 1831, Neopope returned along a familiar route from Canada, after visiting with long-time British allies, and with several allied tribes along the way.  Neopope was Black Hawk’s chief advisor and leading warrior, and held a position of great respect in the eyes of the old warrior.  Neopope reported to Black Hawk that Wabokieshiek, The Prophet, had told him that if they returned to Saukenuk in the spring and made a strong stand, the British, Potawatomi, Ojibwe, Ottawa, and Ho-Chunk would all support them.  Black Hawk’s rival Keokuk convinced most of the Sauk and Fox living in the winter grounds in Iowa that this was a lie, or a misunderstanding, but many of the band supported Neopope and Black Hawk, and swore to follow them in the spring.

Sac and Fox

Mesquakie (Fox)

On or around April 5th, 1832, Black Hawk crossed the Mississippi river near the mouth of the Des Moines river, bringing with him approximately 1500 Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo Indians.  The band was a cross-section of the tribe – warriors, but also their wives, children, and the elderly.  Whole families were engaged in an effort to return to their homeland through peaceful occupation.  Black Hawk had fought many battles with the Whites, and he believed that if they acted peacefully, there would be no conflict.  They moved up the Illinois side of the river, intent on relocating once again to Saukenuk and taking a stand.  When he arrived, on April 13th, he found that white settlers and traders had moved into their homes the previous summer and were firmly established.  Nevertheless, the band of Indians ignored the whites and set up their homes, planning to occupy the space they believed was theirs to claim.

The United States officials and leadership were concerned about the possibility of another armed conflict with Black Hawk and his warriors, and justifiably so.  During the war of 1812, Black Hawk earned the fear and respect of all who were his enemies.  But they were equally worried about the possibility of war among the Native American tribes in the region, between which conflicts had been smoldering for decades.  With the British defeated and forced from the region, it fell to the United States to play the role of peacekeeper among the Indian tribes.  This was not particularly popular among the Indian Tribes, as war and raiding parties was often the only way that young men could distinguish themselves in the tribe and gain status.  Nor was this strictly for humanitarian reasons: intertribal warfare made it more difficult for the United States to acquire Indian land and move the tribes to the West.  Contrary to logic, without peace, there could be no conquest.

Henry Atkinson

Perhaps fate or bad luck can be said to have led to the downfall of Black Hawk’s migration back into Illinois.  Traveling with him in his band of over a thousand Indians was a group of Meskwakis involved in a skirmish with the Dakotas and Menominees.  In retaliation for the death of fifteen Meskwakis killed in May of 1830 during a peace treaty, a group of Meskwaki and Sauk Indians killed twenty-six Menominee men, women and children in July of 1831.  American officials tried to persuade the Menominees not to retaliate, but without affect.  Hoping to prevent the outbreak of a wider war, American officials ordered the U.S. Army to arrest the Meskwakis who had massacred the Menominees.  Brigadier General Henry Atkinson received the assignment, and on April 8th, 1832, he set out from Jefferson Barracks in Missouri with about 220 soldiers.  By chance, Black Hawk and his band had just crossed into Illinois, unaware that a contingency of the U.S. Army was already en route to intercept him.  Without knowing it, Atkinson and his troops actually passed by the very Indians they were pursuing as both headed north on or along the Mississippi. 

Fort Armstrong
Rock Island  IL

When Atkinson arrived at Fort Armstrong on Rock Island on April 12, he learned that the so-called British Band was in Illinois, and that most of the Meskwakis he wanted to arrest were now with the band.  Like other American officials, Atkinson was convinced that the British Band intended to start a war. Because he had few troops at his disposal, Atkinson hoped to get support from the Illinois state militia. He wrote to Governor Reynolds on April 13, describing—and perhaps purposely exaggerating—the threat that the British Band posed.  Reynolds, who was eager for a war to drive the Indians out of the state, responded as Atkinson had hoped: he called for militia volunteers to assemble at Beardstown by April 22 to begin a thirty-day enlistment. The 2,100 men who volunteered were organized into a brigade of five regiments under Brigadier General Samuel Whiteside. 

Two days later, on April 24th, U.S. officers sent emissaries to talk to Black Hawk with a stern warning and a threat.  Black Hawk was told to move his people back west of the Mississippi, or they would once again be forced to leave, at bayonet point if necessary.

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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)