Famous Native Americans
Black Hawk was a member of the Sauk people. He lived in the village of Saukenuk, which was the largest village located between the Rock River and the Mississippi River in Illinois. Black Hawk’s father was Chief Pyesa.
The Sauk people hunted buffalo by driving them into the rocky walls of a canyon. Each spring, the men hunted for buffalo and elk, while the women planted corn and beans and gathered fruit, nuts, and berries. Black Hawk wanted to go hunting with the men, but he was too young.
After one big hunt, the Sauk were attacked by a band of Osage people. Black Hawk killed an enemy with his hatchet. He was considered a warrior after fighting so well and could sit among the men at the council fire. Black Hawk could now fight against his enemies: the Cherokee, the Osage, and the Sioux. When Chief Pyesa died, the Sauk made Black Hawk their new chief.
Each year, Black Hawk went to St. Louis to trade with the Spanish. In 1804, when he went to trade, the Spanish had moved out of St. Louis and the Americans had moved in. Black Hawk had heard bad things about the Americans.
After returning home, Black Hawk decided to go to Canada to see if the English would trade for gunpowder. While Black Hawk was away, American soldiers came up the Mississippi River with swords. The Sauk sent four chiefs to St. Louis to make peace. They signed a treaty giving the Americans all the Sauk territories, not knowing what they were signing.
The American soldiers came into Sauk territory and built a strong fort. When Black Hawk returned from Canada, he was angry after seeing the fort. He attacked the fort with burning arrows, but the Americans had cannons, causing Black Hawk to retreat.
Black Hawk continued to trade with the English. When the War of 1812 started, President James Madison offered Black Hawk gunpowder if he would agree not to help the English. Black Hawk agreed because he did not want to fight. When Black Hawk went to the fort to get the gunpowder, he was given tobacco, food, and blankets, but no gunpowder.
When Black Hawk returned to his village, an English trader brought him gunpowder and news that many Native Nations were going to attack the forts to the north and east. After four years of fighting, the English lost.
Chief Keokuk told the Americans that he was the Supreme Chief. Keokuk had given away some of the Sauk lands to the U.S. government. Later, Black Hawk signed a peace treaty in May 1816, unknowingly signing away the Sauk land east of the Mississippi.
One summer, when Black Hawk returned from hunting, he found settlers living in his village. By 1830, Keokuk moved many of the Sauk and Fox people across the Mississippi to a reservation in Iowa.
In the fall of 1831, Black Hawk was forced by soldiers to take the remaining Sauk to the reservation in Iowa. After a harsh winter, Black Hawk took 400 warriors and their families back across the Mississippi River. The Americans began to fight Black Hawk in battles known as the Black Hawk War.
Black Hawk knew he could not win this war. He sent three messengers with a flag of truce to the American camp, but the Americans shot them down. After the messengers were killed, Black Hawk rushed into the American camp, causing the Americans to panic. As Black Hawk and his men were starting to head back across the Mississippi River, they were caught between the American steamboat Warrior and the American troops. Two hundred Sauk died that day. Black Hawk was held prisoner after his surrender. The Americans then took all the land from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River.
