2-23 Ocooch Mountains

May 17, 2014

Ocooch Mountains

Richland & Crawford Counties, WI

We drove across the Pine River on Twin Bluff Drive, headed toward the town of Twin Bluffs, presumably named because it nestles between a sizable and imposing bluff to the west, and another somewhat smaller bluff to the East.  Turning right on County Road TB, we traveled in a generally northwest direction, passing fields and forest along the floodplain of the Pine River.  The road upon which we drove was generally level, though all around us the very earth itself rose in great crested swells, densely forested with oak, hickory and elm.

We chose a route which attempted to shadow that taken by Black Hawk and his band, though it is difficult to pinpoint in this land of unceasing undulation the exact location of any given ravine, creek, mountain or marsh.  Hwy 14 passes effortlessly north and west along the broad valley and flood plain of the Pine River, in the only logical path through this maze of mountains.  No doubt, engineers studied the path of this highway carefully, laying and winding it between the mountains, cresting only three times on its path to the Kickapoo River, somewhat north of Soldier’s Grove.  We know, from reading the diaries, letters, and reports of the soldiers involved in the chase, that Black Hawk most certainly did not choose this easiest of all possible paths.

Instead, it is clear that Black Hawk chose a path through these mountains which he believed would be impossible for the soldiers to follow, with their wagons and baggage.  His trail led through hopeless, desperate muddy marshes, up towering hillsides, and across the deepest and most treacherous of ravines.  Perhaps no reasonable commander would pursue an enemy through these hills, but Atkinson and his troops had passed beyond reason, and in any case did not know what they faced.  Here is a sample of how some of those who followed described the experience.  Each of these are quotes from original documents, compiled and presented in the book, Massacre at Bad Axe in the Black Hawk War, by Crawford B. Thayer

“ …now followed a march over a country which we found to present almost insuperable difficulties to the passage of an army … certainly remarkable for a combination or juxtaposition of the primitive, alluvious, and other formations, almost unheard of in geology.”

“Marched all day through morasses & swamps, thick woods & over mountains & streams”

“Marched 15 miles to day over the Alps or Pyranies mountains decidedly the most hilly country I have seen heavy timber, rich land, and some of the loftiest trees I ever saw”

“We now saw ourselves enveloped in a mass of the tallest and steepest mountains we had ever seen, and no one could tell us how long it would be before we would get through them.”

“… one continued series of mountains.  No sooner had they reached the summit of one high and almost perpendicular hill, than they had to descend on the other side, equally steep to the base of another.”

“This was truly a lonely and disheartening place.”

“It appears that this country was formed by the great I-AM, for some purpose that the children of men have not yet found out.”

Not only was the terrain imposing, it was filled with unimaginable obstacles.

“…taking, as it were, a temporary farewell of the sun and his cheerful lights, we forced our way into the bramble and thicket of this gloomy forest.  We followed the narrow trails made by the Indians through undergrowth which could only be passed through patient and painful effort. ”

“…wound about [through] the hills which … had at some former time experienced a considerable [tornado], the effects of which was a considerable detriment to our march, and must have been much greater to the Indians who had broke their way [through] before us.  We still pursued the trail and crossed an other most desperate place of mud and water… and then we entered one of the most dreadful pieces of land that I saw in all that north country.”

“… we continued without deviation to follow the trail of the enemy … and led, doubtless with the with a view of baffling the army – over such a country as, I venture to say, has seldom been marched over – at one moment ascending hills, which appeared almost perpendicular, through the thickest forests; then plunging through morasses; fording to our necks in creeks and rivers; passing defiles … next clambering up and down mountains perfectly bald, without so much as a bush to sustain a man.”

“… still penetrating deeper and deeper into the Recesses of a savage wild of High Hills and low swamps overgrown with heavy timber and with so much small under wood that in many places it would have been impossible to have [been] seen at thirty feet distance…”

“The wood, both upon the top of the highest mountains, & at the bottom of the deepest hollows, was of the heaviest growth.  The under bushes were chiefly thorn and prickly ash.”

“ …for several days we toiled over a seemingly endless succession of lofty hills, so precipitous, that it was frequently necessary to use the hands to assist the feet.  After ascending such a hill, perhaps three hundred feet in height, we would find ourselves on the verge of an equally abrupt descent; then a valley from a quarter to a half mile wide, to the foot of the next hill; but in the valley we invariably found a bog and a miry creek.”

It is possible that, had they known what they were up against, Atkinson would indeed have refused to pursue Black Hawk through those mountains.  John Allen Wakefield later wrote in his book, History of the War Between the United States and the Sac and Fox Nations of Indians (written in 1834, and thus one of the earliest full accounts), “We had just entered those mountains; and as an all-wise Providence [God] had so directed it, no one knew how bad they were; for if they had known the difficulty of crossing them, and the distance across them … neither officers or men, would have undertaken to go through them.”

In the midst of all the heartbreak I have felt while traveling this path and reading of all that occurred, I find subtle humor in reading Black Hawk’s impression and description of these mountains.  In his autobiography, the entire passage through this remarkable landscape is described as follows:  “Myself and band having no means to descend the Ouisconsin, I started, over a rugged country, to go to the Mississippi…” A rugged country, indeed.

The path chosen by Black Hawk nearly succeeded in stopping his pursuers, but it came at a terrible price.  By the second day’s march through these hills, his people began to drop dead from the exertion.  Wounded, starving, elderly and exhausted alike were falling behind, and then falling down, never to rise again.  Many times during my journey, I have held a mental picture of 700 -1000 Indians, travelling side-by-side with their loved ones, in a steady stream of silent humanity as they marched and rode through the forests and meadows.  It is only now, as I entered this forbidding land that the full realization hit me of just how wrong this perception was.

One of my other great journeys in life is to walk the Ice Age Trail.  It is a 1200+ mile trail that winds through Wisconsin following the edges of the various lobes of the glaciers, and traveling through the hilly, rocky, marshy country that is the hallmark of the glaciers.  I travel this path, as well as all others, with my husband, and we carefully plan and organize our hikes into 3-5 mile segments.  Even on this journey, with its marked paths, cut staircases and bridges, simple in comparison with what Black Hawk’s band endured, and with only two people involved, we have at times become separated.  Sometimes one or another of us is slightly more fatigued, or less hydrated than the other, and may slow down during an ascent or through a particularly difficult area.  Perhaps one or the other of us stops for a moment and the other continues onward without knowing it.  Eventually, the one in the lead will stop and rest, while the one behind catches up.  That, multiplied 1000 times, is what Black Hawk’s band encountered.

I have read the stories of the Indians that were encountered on the trail, lying dead where they fell in I a state of total exhaustion and deprivation.  Always I pictured, somehow, that these fallen people were somehow left behind by their companions, having seen that they fell but could not bow to help them for fear that they, too, would die or be killed.   The truth is much, much worse.  They did not travel in one, large group.  They spread out, naturally, along the trail, with the swiftest and strongest leading the way, choosing the route, breaking trail where necessary.  Ever forward they would go, finding the path for the others to follow, and they would follow as they were able.  Some would travel a little more slowly than the others, and would fall a little behind.  Some would stop to answer the call of nature, and fall a little behind.  Some would stop to rest, unable to keep up the swift pace through the arduous landscape, and would fall a little behind.  Some would falter and fall, and need to lie still until they could summon the strength to get up again.  Some never did.  They did not fall surrounded by the strong.  They fell alone, and without their loved ones beside them.

I have read that sometimes the stragglers would find their way into camp late at night, or even the next morning, only to be forced to go on without sleep or to collapse in exhaustion, having made it far enough to let their loved ones know they still live but unable to go on without rest.  For the families of those who fell behind, the nights would become a living torment, wondering if their ailing spouse, or parent, or adolescent child would ever show up again.  For some of those families, the torment of unknowing would never end.

From Koshkonong all the way to the Wisconsin River, the soldiers occasionally mentioned finding the bodies of those who had perished along the way.  Early on, it was the elderly and the sick.  Soon thereafter, it was the infants who started to die.  Then it was the women, and the wounded who perished.  Now, in the Ocooch Mountains, Death pursued the fleeing Indians more closely than the army, and claimed its victims one at a time like rolling fog swallows ships in a harbor.

On August 30th, a mere one and a half days behind the Indians, the soldiers started noting an increasing and unusual number of bodies along the trail.

“On this day, we began to find the trail strewed with the dead bodies of Indians.”

“On the route, a number of dead bodies of Indians were found, many in a state of putrefaction; these had doubtless died of wounds received at the Battle of Wisconsin Heights. … The march was therefore rendered distressingly offensive, both to the senses of smelling and of seeing.”

“… the Indian trail … was down the valley, and was rendered quite offensive by the stench of numerous dead bodies of the enemy…”

“Dead, wounded, and [dying] men & children were left on the road.”

“…numbers of dead warriors, women and children were found along the trail.”

“On our march across the country, and during and after the action, I [Lieutenant Robert Anderson] witnessed scenes of distress and misery exceeding any I ever expected to see in our happy land.  Dead bodies males & females strewed along the road – left unburied exposed – poor – emaciated beings – some dead from the wounds [received] in the engagement on the Ouisconsin – others by disease.  The elms – the linns along their routes were barked to give them food.  Scattered along the route lay vestiges of [horses] tired out by travel – and killed to give life & sustenance to their master.”

My road through these hills, should any wish to follow in my footsteps on this journey, was this:

1) Starting at the town of Gotham, travel North on Hwy 14 to Twin Bluff Drive (4.3 miles)
2) Left (west) On Twin Bluff Drive to CTH TB (0.6 miles)
3) Right (north) on CTH TB to CTH O/OO (2.4 miles)
4) Right (north) On CTH O/OO to CTH OO (1.2 miles)
5) Left (west) on CTH OO to Bohmann Drive/CTH OO (1.8 miles)
6) Left (west) on CTH OO to HWY 80 (0.6.miles)
7) Left (southwest) on Hwy 80 to Pauls Hill Drive (1.3 miles)

When we left Highway 80, we finally left the relative comfort of the valleys, and headed into the hills.

8) Right (west) on Pauls Hill Drive to Hill View Drive (0.6 miles)

On this road we attempted to capture photos of how steep and severe the hills were.  It is difficult to photograph a forested hill, because there is little to use for perspective.  Here are two of those photos, one of a stair-step ravine and another of a tree clinging to the precipice of a rapidly dropping hillside.

Our road trip continued:

9) Right (west) on Hill View Drive to Crow Hill School Rd (1.4 miles)

On Hill View Drive, we climbed to the top of one of the hills, and stopped to capture some of the breathtaking views.  It was finally, at this moment, after getting out of the car and seeing the crowns of countless hilltops in all directions, that I was finally able to feel the heartbeats of the people.  When I closed my eyes the wind in my hair carried the long-ago sound of hoof beats and the smell of fear.  It was here that I heard tears falling like gentle raindrops upon this untamed wilderness.  It was here that I felt the spirits of the fallen.

10) Left (west) on Crow Hill School Rd to CTH Q (1 mile)

11) Left (west) on CTH Q to CTH ZZ (0.9 miles)
12) Right (north) on CTH ZZ to Dayton Ridge Rd (0.9 miles)
13) Left (west) on Dayton Ridge Rd to Jefferson Street (3.2 miles)
14) Right (north) on Jefferson Street to Hwy 171 (0.1 miles)

We now found ourselves in the town of Boaz, whose great claims to fame include a locally discovered mastodon skeleton and the fact that Black Hawk’s path crossed Mill Creek near this point.

At Boaz, we stopped for lunch and left behind a prayer stick.

15) Left (south) on Hwy 171 to CHT H (10.1 miles)
16) Right (northwest) on CTH H to HWY 61 (6.6 miles)

17) Right (north) on Hwy 61 to Hwy 131/Pine Street (1.7 miles)

18) Left (west) on HWY 131/Pine Street to CTH C/Main Street (0.4 miles) Historical Marker on Left

I now found myself in Soldier’s Grove, originally known as Pine Grove Village.  The soldiers camped in this location, having found grass for their horses for the first time in three days.  They were now about one day behind Black Hawk.

19) Forward (north) on CTH C/Main Street to CTH B (6.2 miles)
20) Left (south) on CTH B/C to CTH C (100 feet)
21) Right (west) on CTH C to Latham Rd (0.5 miles)
22) Right (west) on Latham Road to Hwy 27 (3.9 miles)
23) Right (northwest) on Hwy 27 to CTH B Town of Rising Sun (0.8 miles)
24) Left (west) on CTH B to Historical Marker on left (200 feet)

Here, at the border between Crawford and Vernon Counties, a traveler will find the first of seven concrete markers that were placed along roadsides in 1930, commemorating the passage of Black Hawk and his band nearly 100 years earlier.  The markers were the brainchild of Dr. Charles Porter, a Vernon County doctor, dairyman and local historian.  He studied the Black Hawk Conflict during the 1880s, during a time when the most pro-Indian accounts were being written, as compared to those written during the four decades before and the four decades since that time.

Here, on the last day of July, with the high temperatures only in the mid-70s, Black Hawk and his people mercifully left behind the Ocooch Mountains, but their efforts tragically failed to thwart the advancing troops, who were now only a day behind.  As with their approach to the Wisconsin River, a desperate and deadly race to the Mississippi River was nearing the finish line.

Spirits of the Wind – Manetôwaki Nôtenwi – It is time to gather your lost children and bring them home.  Fly from this place and seek out those who fell to the arms of our Great Mother Earth, alone, and far from their families and their homes.  Bring them my love, and my prayers.  Tell them that even now, they are not forgotten.  Gather the spirits of the nenîchânethaki, the children, and the apenôhêhaki, the infants, and take them by the hand.  Gather the spirits of the châkikya, the mothers, and bring them to their children.  Gather the spirits of the metemôhaki, the old women, and the pashitôhaki, the old men, and carry them in a circle around the women and children in your swirling arms.  Tell them to gather love from each other, and give them the strength of your spirit. Tell them their time of loneliness and mourning is over and that it is now time to dance again.

Tell them to walk with me as I finish our journey, and complete the circle.  Tell them they are wanted and needed.  Tell them that I am their friend, and I will tell their story.  Ah-ho.

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)