Great Indian Chief of the West

CHAPTER I.. Origin of the Sac and Fox Indians--Removal to Green Bay--Their

Origin of the Sac and Fox Indians--Removal to Green Bay--Their subjugation of the Illini confederacy--Their attack upon St. Louis in 1779--Col. George Rogers Clark relieves the town--Governor Harrison's letter--Maj. Forsyth's account of the conquest of the Illini--Death of the Sac chief Pontiac--Sac and Fox village on Rock river--Description of the surrounding country--Civil polity of the Sacs and Foxes--Legend about their chiefs--Division of the tribes into families--Mode of burying their dead--Idea of a future state--Their account of the creation of the world--Marriages--Social relations--Music and musical instruments--Pike's visit to them in 1805--Population--Character for courage 13

CHAPTER II.

Treaty with the Sac and Fox Indians in 1789--treaty and cession of land to the United States at St. Louis in 1804--Black Hawk's account of this treaty--Erection of Fort Madison--The British excite the Sac and Fox Indians to make war upon the United States--A party under Black Hawk join the British standard in 1812--Treaty at Portage des Sioux in 1815--Treaty of peace with Black Hawk and his band at same place in 1816--Treaty for part of their lands in Missouri in 1824--Treaty of Prairie des Chiens in 1825--Treaty for the mineral region in 1829--Treaty of peace in 1832, after the "Black Hawk war"--Present residence of the Sacs and Foxes 49

CHAPTER III.

Birth of Black Hawk--Early adventures--Battles with the Osages and Cherokees--Death of his father--Interview with Lieutenant Pike--Attack upon Fort Madison--Joins the British in the late war--Marches to lake Erie--Returns home after the attack upon Fort Stephenson--Murder of his adopted son--Battle of the Sink-hole near Cap au Gris--Treaty of peace at Portage des Sioux in 1816 74

CHAPTER IV.. Building of Fort Armstrong--the Good Spirit of Rock Island--Death

Building of Fort Armstrong--The good Spirit of Rock Island--Death of Black Hawk's children--Young Sac offers to die in place of his brother--Black Hawk's visit to Malden--Whipped by some whites--Whites settle at his village--Black Hawk's talk with Governor Coles and Judge Hall--Sale of the lands on Rock river--Indians ordered to remove--Agreement to remove for six thousand dollars--Memorial of the white settlers to Governor Reynolds--The Governor's letters to General Clark and General Gaines--The latter leaves Jefferson Barracks with six companies of the United States troops for Rock Island--His interview with Black Hawk--Calls upon the Governor of Illinois for militia--The Indians abandon their village--treaty of peace made with them--Official letters to the war department--Summary of the causes which brought on this disturbance--Black Hawk's attempt to form an alliance with other tribes 91

CHAPTER V.

Keokuk's birth--Kills a Sioux when fifteen years old--Prevents the abandonment of the Sac village--Bold manoeuvre with the Sioux--Perils his life for the safety of his people--Speech to the Menominies at Prairie des Chiens--Called upon to lead his braves to join in the Black Hawk war--Allays the excitement of his people on this subject--Deposed from his post as head chief and a young man elected in his place--Re-established in power--Delivers up his nephew to the whites to be tried for murder--Letter to the Governor of Illinois--Council at Washington in 1837--Retorts upon the Sioux--His visit to Boston--His return home--His personal appearance--And his character as a war and peace chief 118

CHAPTER VI.. Murder of Twenty-Eight Menominies by the Foxes of Black Hawk's

Murder of twenty-eight Menominies by the Foxes of Black Hawk's band--Naopope's visit to Malden--Black Hawk recrosses the Mississippi--General Atkinson orders him to return--Stillman's attack--Defeated by Black Hawk--His white flag fired upon--He sends out war parties upon the frontier--Attack upon Fort Buffalo--General Dodge's battle on the Wisconsin--Black Hawk and his band leave the Four Lakes and fly to the Mississippi--Pursued by General Atkinson--Black Hawk's flag of truce fired upon by the Captain of the Warrior--Twenty-three Indians killed 143

CHAPTER VII.

General Atkinson overtakes Black Hawk--Battle of the Bad Axe--Atkinson's official report--Incidents of the Battle--Capture of Black Hawk and the prophet--Naopope's statement to General Scott--General Scott and Governor Reynolds conclude a treaty with the Sacs, Foxes and Winnebagoes--Causes which led to the war--Motives for getting up Indian wars--First attack made by the Illinois militia--Report of the Secretary at War in regard to this campaign--General Macomb's letter to General Atkinson--Secretary Cass' statement of the causes which led to this war--Comments upon this statement, and its omissions pointed out 166

CHAPTER VIII.. Black Hawk, Naopope, the Prophet and Others Confined At Jefferson

Black Hawk, Naopope, the Prophet and others confined at Jefferson Barracks--In April 1833 sent to Washington--Interview with the President--sent to Fortress Monroe--Their release--Visit the eastern cities--Return to the Mississippi--Conference at Rock island between Maj. Garland, Keokuk, Black Hawk and other chiefs--speeches of Keokuk, Pashshepaho and Black Hawk--Final discharge of the hostages--Their return to their families--Black Hawk's visit to Washington in 1837--His return--His personal appearance--Military talents--Intellectual and moral character 200

CHAPTER IX.. Black Hawk At the Capture of Fort Erie--At the Battle

Black Hawk at the capture of Fort Erie--At the battle of the Thames--His account of the death of Tecumthe--His residence and mode of life after his last visit to the east--His Fourth of July speech at fort Madison--His death and burial 234

APPENDIX--Sketches of the Sioux 222 Colonization of the Indians 228 Indian Dancing Ceremonies 237 Sale of Whiskey to the Indians 245

INDEX 285

HISTORY

OF THE

SAUKEE AND MUSQUAKEE NATIONS,

USUALLY CALLED THE

SAC AND FOX INDIANS.

CHAPTER I.. Origin of the Sac and Fox Indians--Removal to Green Bay--Their

Origin of the Sac and Fox Indians--Removal to Green Bay--Their subjugation of the Illini confederacy--Their attack upon St. Louis in 1779--Col. George Rogers Clark relieves the town--Governor Harrison's letter--Maj. Forsyth's account of the conquest of the Illini--Death of the Sac chief Pontiac--Sac and Fox village on Rock river--Description of the surrounding country--Civil polity of the Sacs and Foxes--Legend about their chiefs--Division of the tribes into families--Mode of burying their dead--Idea of a future state--Their account of the creation of the world--Marriages--Social relations--Music and musical instruments--Pike's visit to them in 1805--Population--Character for courage.

The word Saukee, or O-sau-kee, now written Sauk or more commonly Sac, is derived from a compound in the Algonquin or Chippeway language, a-saw-we-kee, which means "yellow earth." Mus-qua-kee, the name of the Fox Indians, signifies "red earth." These two tribes have long resided together, and now constitute one people, although there are some internal regulations among them which tend to preserve a distinctive name and lineage. The chiefs, on ceremonial occasions, claim to be representatives of independent tribes, but this distinction is nominal. For many years past the principal chief of the Sacs, has been, in fact, the chief of the Foxes likewise. They are united in peace and war, speak the same language, claim the same territory, have similar manners and customs, and possess traditions which represent them as descended from the one common origin--the great Chippeway nation.

Both tribes originally resided upon the waters of the St. Lawrence. The Foxes removed first to the west, and established themselves in the region of Green Bay. Upon a river bearing their name, which empties into the head of this Bay, they suffered a signal defeat by a combined body of French and Indians, at a place, since known as La Butte de Mort, or the Hill of the Dead. Subsequently to this battle, they were joined by the Sacs, who having become involved in a war with the Iroquois or Six Nations, were also driven to the westward. They found their relatives, the Foxes, upon Green Bay, but so far reduced in numbers, by the attacks of other tribes, that they were no longer able to sustain themselves as an independent people. The union between these two tribes, which then took place, and continues to this day, was as much a matter of necessity as of feeling. The period of their migration from the St. Lawrence to the upper Lakes cannot be satisfactorily ascertained. La Hontan speaks of a Sac village on Fox river, as early as 1689; and Father Hennepin, in 1680, mentions the Ontagamies or Fox Indians, as residents on the bay of Puants, now Green Bay.

From this place, the Sauks and Foxes, crossed over to the eastern bank of the Mississippi, and combining with other tribes, began to act on the offensive. The period of this irruption from the north, it is not easy to determine. Major Thomas Forsyth, who resided for near twenty years among the Sauks and Foxes, in a manuscript account of those tribes, now before us, says:

"More than a century ago, all the country, commencing above Rock river, and running down the Mississippi to the mouth of the Ohio, up that river to the mouth of the Wabash, thence up that river to Fort Wayne, thence down the Miami of the Lake some distance, thence north to the St. Joseph's and Chicago; also the country lying south of the Des Moines, down perhaps, to the Mississippi, was inhabited by a numerous nation of Indians, who called themselves Linneway, and were called by others, Minneway, signifying "men." This great nation was divided into several bands, and inhabited different parts of this extensive region, as follows: The Michigamies, the country south of the Des Moines; the Cohakias that east of the present village of Cohokia in Illinois; the Kaskaskias that east of the town of that name; the Tamarois had their village nearly central between Cahokia and Kaskaskia; the Piankeshaws near Vincennes; the Weas up the Wabash; the Miamies on the head waters of the Miami of the Lakes, on St. Joseph's river and at Chicago. The Piankeshaws, Weas and Miamies, must at this time have hunted south towards and on the Ohio. The Peorias, another band of the same nation, lived and hunted on the Illinois river: The Mascos or Mascontins, called by the French gens des prairies, lived and hunted on the great prairies, between the Wabash and Illinois rivers. All these different bands of the Minneway nation, spoke the language of the present Miamies, and the whole considered themselves as one and the same people; yet from their local situation, and having no standard to go by, their language became broken up into different dialects. These Indians, the Minneways, were attacked by a general confederacy of other nations, such as the Sauks and Foxes, resident at Green Bay and on the Ouisconsin; the Sioux, whose frontiers extended south to the river des Moines: the Chippeways, Ottoways, and Potawatimies from the lakes, and also the Cherokees and Choctaws from the south. The war continued for a great many years and until that great nation the Minneways were destroyed, except a few Miamies and Weas on the Wabash, and a few who are scattered among strangers. Of the Kaskaskias, owing to their wars and their fondness for spiritous liquors, there now (1826) remain but thirty or forty souls;--of the Peorias near St. Genevieve ten or fifteen; of the Piankeshaws forty or fifty. The Miamies are the most numerous; a few years ago they consisted of about four hundred souls. There do not exist at the present day (1826) more than five hundred souls of the once great and powerful Minneway or Illini nation. These Indians, the Minneways, are said to have been very cruel to their prisoners, not unfrequently burning them. I have heard of a certain family among the Miamies who were called man-eaters, as they were accustomed to make a feast of human flesh when a prisoner was killed. For these enormities, the Sauks and Foxes, when they took any of the Minneways prisoners, gave them up to their women to be buffeted to death. They speak also of the Mascontins with abhorrence, on account of their cruelties. The Sauks and Foxes have a historical legend of a severe battle having been fought opposite the mouth of the Iowa river, about fifty or sixty miles above the mouth of Rock river. The Sauks and Foxes descended the Mississippi in canoes, and landing at the place above described, started east, towards the enemy: they had not gone far before they were attacked by a party of the Mascontins. The battle continued nearly all day; the Sauks and Foxes, for want of ammunition, finally gave way and fled to their canoes; the Mascontins pursued them and fought desperately, and left but few of the Sauks and Foxes to carry home the story of their defeat. Some forty or fifty years ago, the Sauks and Foxes attacked a small village of Peorias, about a mile below St. Louis and were there defeated. At a place on the Illinois river, called Little Rock, there were formerly killed by the Chippeways and Ottowas, a number of men, women and children of the Minneway nation. In 1800 the Kickapoos made a great slaughter of the Kaskaskia Indians. The Main-Pogue, or Potawatimie juggler, in 1801, killed a great many of the Piankeshaws on the Wabash."

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