USA > Illinois > Rock Island County > Rock Island > Early Rock Island > Part 2
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Black Hawk, like Keokuk, was not an hereditary chief, but had risen to the position of chief of the war party through the native vigor of his character and his great suc-
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cess in war. Black Hawk had never suffered defeat. His band, which was much the larger, comprised the chivalry of the Sac and Fox nations. At the beginning of the War of 1812 he offered the services of his nation to the Americans, which from motives of humanity they declined. Vet the British were not loth to accept them, for directly after this we find that La Guthre, an agent of Great Britain, was at the Rock River village to enlist the Sacs and Foxes on the British side and against the Americans, and we find them fighting us in the War of 1812. From this fact and from this time, Black Hawk's band was known as the "British Band." A study of Black Hawk's life discloses that he pos- sessed those qualities which in a white man would raise him to power and position. Black Hawk was the great Indian commoner. Keokuk was noted as an Indian orator, Black Hawk as an Indian warrior.
THE CAUSE OF INDIAN WARS.
Every so called Indian war in this country originated in a desire on the part of the white man to possess the home and the hunting grounds of his red brother. Discovery by the European nations was considered a right to extinguish the redman's title. England's policy then as now was to claim that all title to land was vested in the crown, that her sub- jects might occupy the soil, but could not alienate it except to her own people. England treated the Indians as she did her own subjects. When the United States at the close of the Revolutionary war succeeded to this country from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, the same principles regarding the title to the Indian lands were carried out; and while in every instance our government has secured title and extinguished Indian rights, by treaty or purchase, we must admit that the consideration was the most trivial, and too often acceptance on the part of the redman was influenced by the force of arms.
"Did the redman foresee his impending doom, his forced retreat towards the setting sun, the gradual breaking up of his power and the final extinction of his race?" Careful study
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of Indian history leads us to believe that among the Indians, as well as among the white men, there were those who saw the coming storm, "who saw the threatening cloud coming from the east, small at first, scarce a shadow, but gradually becoming more distinct and greater as it traveled westward, and, when it reached the summit of the Alleghanies, it assumed a darker hue; deep murmurs, as of thunder, were heard ; it was impelled westward by strong winds and shot forth forked tongues of lightning." On the plains of Abra- ham, when French supremacy west of the Alleghanies was forever lost, and Pontiac stood before the British officer who was to proceed westward to secure the fruits of victory and said, "I stand in thy path," he realized the impending conflict, and his note of warning to the chiefs of his nation to "Drive the dogs who wear red clothing into the sea" was his last appeal to save his race. Fifty years later Tecumseh fell a martyr to the Indian cause, and his efforts to stem the westward march of the white man failed. For three years after that Tuscaloosa strove in vain to save his nation, and in 1832 the Sacs and Foxes on Rock Island soil, under the leadership of their great chief Black Hawk, made the last determined Indian defense of their homes and the resting place of their forefathers.
SACS AND FOXES OF TO-DAY.
After their removal to Iowa, they by treaties in 1836 and 1842 ceded all their lands up to the Missouri River, and in June, 1885, these people were distributed as follows: On Sac and Fox Reservation in Iowa (Tama county), about 380; on Pottawattomie and Great Nemaha Agency Reserva- tion, near the northeast corner of Kansas, the Sacs and Foxes of Missouri about 187; on Sac and Fox Reservation in Indian Territory, 457, and Mohoko's band, wandering in the west, about 350-a total of 1,374. Almost all but the last named band are farmers and herders. The agent at Sac and Fox Agency, Iowa, writing in 1884, said: "For honesty and truthfulness our Indians stand above the average white man with the merchants with whom they deal." Vet in spite of
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all attempts to civilize them, the Sacs and Foxes still live in the rude huts of their ancestors, cooking their food from a fire made on the ground, the smoke escaping from an open roof ; sleeping on bunks of boards arranged on the sides of their huts, wearing blankets, painting their faces, shaving and decorating their heads, as did their ancestors who lived at the old Rock River village. They lack thrift, industry and a spirit of progress. They still offer prayers and hold feasts before planting their crops, and another series of prayers and thanksgiving when their crops are gathered. Notwithstanding the efforts of Christian missionaries, holy or consecrated tobacco is still burned on certain occasions as incense, and as of yore they still have "Me-sham," a some- thing that profane eyes have never been allowed to see. The modern Sacs and Foxes, while quiet and peaceful, are averse to work and seem at their best visiting the neighboring towns, lounging about smoking, chatting and playing the white man's game- cards.
FIRST WHITE EXPLORERS.
Undoubtedly the first white men to cast their eyes upon Rock Island soil were Louis Joliet and Father Jacques Mar- quette, when they and their five French canoemen, in June 1673, floated from the mouth of the Wisconsin River down the broad Mississippi. We do not know that they landed at any spot in the boundary of what is now Rock Island County, but as they came over the Rock Island rapids, gliding down the swift flowing water, they could not fail to notice the island of Rock Island with its rocky shores and beautiful groves, for their canoes must needs take the channel on the north shore of the island. All early voyagers remarked upon this locality, and it was generally considered "the hand- somest and most delightful spot of the same size on the whole globe."
We have no record of the first white man who stepped on Rock Island soil. We know that as early as 1690 Nicholas Perrot, French commandant of the west, built a post opposite to where Dubuque, Iowa, now is and that in 1695 Pierre Le
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THE BATTLE GROUND CAMPBELL'S ISLAND.
CAMPBELL'S BATTLE.
In order to strengthen this garrison, Howard in the first part of July sent a second expedition consisting of 133 per- sons up the Mississippi in three fortified barges or keel boats. This expedition was commanded by Lieutenant (act- ing Major) John Campbell. On the afternoon of July 18 the boats arrived at this locality and encamped for the night on the Illinois shore, opposite the lower end of Rock Island. During the evening Black Hawk and a large number of his people came to the American encampment and expressed great friendship for the Americans. During the night a run- ner came from Prairie du Chien to the Indian village on Rock River, bringing the news of the capture of the Amer- ican Fort Shelby by the British and asking Black Hawk to be on the lookout for a large boat whichi had escaped and which was headed down the river. Early in the morning Black Hawk and his band started for the American camp.
During the night a strong wind came up and Major Camp- bell decided to take advantage of it and made an early start with his boats. When Black Hawk arrived at the Mississippi shore he found the Americans gone and he immediately started up the river in pursuit. Campbell's fleet had pro- ceeded about six miles up the river beyond the island of Rock Island, when they encountered a severe storm, which drove the boat commanded by Campbell upon the shore of the island, since known as Campbell's Island. While waiting for the storm to subside the troops landed and began prepar- ing their breakfast. Black Hawk, who had followed on the Illinois shore, saw the stranded boat and with his warriors he forded the Mississippi from the main shore to the island and commenced an attack upon Campbell's soldiers. The two other boats which had preceded the ill-fated vessel, and which were commanded by Lieutenants Stephen Rector and Jona- than Riggs, hearing the report of fire arms, quickly returned to the rescue. The engagement lasted all day. The rangers effected a retreat after a heroic rescue of Campbell's crew, but left Campbell's ill-fated boat in the hands of the Indians, who, after plundering it, set it on fire. The total casualties
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were sixteen killed, of whom one was a woman and one a child. The Legislature at its session of 1904-5 appropriated $5,000 for a monument to mark this spot.
FIRST WHITE SETTLERS.
The first white settler in this county was George Daven- port, who came to the island of Rock Island in the spring of 1816 with Colonel William Lawrence and the Eighth Regi- ment of United States regulars at the time Fort Armstrong was built. In 1817 Davenport built a double log cabin on the island of Rock Island at the place where the "Old Davenport House " now stands, one part of which he used as a store in which he carried on the business of an Indian trader. The old ruin now standing on the north shore of the island was built in 1833 and was for many years the most pretentious residence above St. Louis. In 1824 Russell Farnham came from Warsaw and entered into partnership with Davenport under the firm name of Davenport & Farnham. In 1826 Davenport & Farnham built the house on the main land afterwards occupied by John Barrel. This was used for many years as the seat of justice for this county and in our county records is referred to as the "House of Jolin Barrel."
In 1828 the country along Rock River had not been sur- veyed and consequently was not open to entry. Yet the fame of the fertility of the soil and the beauty of the country had attracted the pioneer who is always in advance of the settler. and who often is termed the squatter, and these people rely- ing upon the protection of Fort Armstrong began to select homes in this valley. During the year 1828 there were eight settlers to arrive-Captain B. W. Clark, an old soldier named Haney, Judge Pence, who settled on Rock River; and John Kinney, Thomas Kinney, George Harlan, Conrad Leek and Archibald Allen. the last five settling where Rapids City now is.
The year 1829 brought a number of new-comers-Judge John W. Spencer who had been here the year before ; Londen Case Sr., and his three sons, Jonah, Louden Jr. and Charles,
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who settled on what is now known as the Case place on Rock River ; Rinah Wells and his four sons, Rinah Jr., Lucius, John and Samuel, who also settled on Rock River; Joel Wells Jr., who settled near Hampton ; Joel Wells Sr., Levi and Huntington Wells, who settled at Moline; Joseph Danforth a inile above Moline, Michael Bartlett where Deere & Man- sur's factory now is, George Goble and his son Benjamin, about two miles above Moline, William Brashar who settled south of the present city of Rock Island, Joshua Vandruff and his sons, who settled on Vandruff's Island, Charles H. Case and Benjamin F. Pike.
FIRST AND ONLY SLAVES.
At this time in the southern part of the state negroes were held in bondage, under what was known and recognized as the indentured or registered servants act. This was contrary to the ordinance of 1787 which governed the admission of Illinois into the union as a state, but our Legislature enacted laws which our courts upheld, by which slavery existed in Illinois. In May, -, a man named Stephens from St. Louis settled on the Mississippi where Walker Station now is, two miles east of Moline, bringing with him twenty black slaves, and built two cabins. There were but few settlers in this locality, but this new departure was not in accord with their ideas, and in October Joseph Danforth traveled to the nearest justice of the peace, who resided at Galena, and secured from him a warrant for Stephens' arrest for holding slaves. George Goble, the father of Benjamin Goble, know- ing Danforth's intention, warned Stephens, who immediately started south with his slaves. Stephens' two cabins were afterwards taken by two brothers named Smith, who floored the cabins with planks taken from the hull of Major Camp- bell's keel boat, which had not burned and which had lain embedded in the sand on Campbell's Island where it stranded on that ill fated July 19, 1814. No one after this ever tried to own slaves in this county, although some of the officers at Fort Armstrong had negro servants who were held as indentured blacks.
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SETTLEMENT OF LANDS.
In 1828 and the early part of 1829 George Davenport and Russell Farnham entered the lands upon which the old fair grounds were located, and which extended from there about one mile east. William T. Brashar entered the lands upon a portion of which is now located Chippianock cemetery. These and other pre-emptions were upon lands that had for nearly a century been the village and the cornfields of the Sacs. These entries were within the letter, but contrary to the spirit, of the treaty of 1804. These lands were not open to settlers, nor brought into the market until the latter part of 1829, and one authority says: "Consequently all who had settled on them previous to this were trespassers, having violated the laws of congress and the pre-existing treaties. The most advanced settlements at that time did not approach nearer than fifty or sixty miles of Rock Island, and the lands for even a greater distance had not been offered for sale, yet the government disposed of a few quarter sections at the mnouth of this stream, embracing the site of the village and fields cultivated by the inhabitants. The manifest object of this advanced movement upon the Indian settlements was to evade the provisions of the treaty, by having the governmental title to the lands pass into the hands of the individuals, and thus obtain a pretext for removing its owners west of the Mississippi."
ESTABLISHMENT OF ROCK ISLAND COUNTY.
By an act of the Illinois Legislature entitled "An act to establish Rock Island County," approved and in force Febru- ary 9, 1831, it was provided by Section 1 thereof what the boundaries of this county shall be. Section 2 provided that whenever it shall be made to appear to the satisfaction of the presiding judge of the Circuit Court of Jo Daviess county, to which this county was then attached. that the said county of Rock Island contains three hundred and fifty inhabitants, it shall be his duty to grant an order for the election of three commissioners, one sheriff and one coroner to serve in and for said county until they be superseded by the persons elected
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at the next general election, which shall take place after teh special election herein provided for. The act then states that after such election the said county of Rock Island shall be considered as organized and entitled to the same rights and privileges as the other counties in this state. Owing however to the Black Hawk war no effort was made to organize the county until 1833, when on Monday, July 5, in pursuance of due notice, the legal voters of this county to the number of sixty-five met at the "House of John Barrel," and elected county officers.
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FORT ARMSTRONG.
Part II
The Beginning of Trouble, The Settlers' Appeal, Reports of the Indian Agent, Correspondence Between the Governor and Generals Gaines and Clark, The First Campaign, Whisky a Main Factor, The Rock River Rangers, Burning of the Indian Village, The Treaty.
Part II
THE BEGINNING OF TROUBLE.
In the spring of 1831, when Black Hawk and his people returned from their winter hunt, he found the few white settlers whom they had left the fall before increased by many new comers. He found the Indian homes occupied by pale faces, and among his corn hills he found the white man's wagon. But more aggravating yet, he found the bones of his ancestors disturbed and laid bare upon the ground by the white man's plow. He and his people had borne much the past few years but this seemed too much. He protested, and was told the white man had bought the land from his white father in Washington. He could not understand this. Judge John W. Spencer in his "Reminiscences " says : "Black Hawk gave the settlers to understand that after this season they must go south of Rock River, or above Pleasant Valley. This move on the part of the Indians made it necessary for the settlers to look about and see what they could do for their protection," and, he adds, "We had peti- tioned the Governor of the state in the summer of 1829 without his taking any notice, but now we concluded to try it again. We made a statement of our grievance, and of the order of Black Hawk for our removal, and forwarded it with all possible haste to the governor. This had the desired effect."
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THE ROCK ISLAND PETITION.
The following is the petition sent to the Governor by citi- zens of Rock Island :
"April 30, 1831.
"His Excellency, the Governor of the State of Illinois :
"We, the undersigned, being citizens of Rock River and its vicinity, beg leave to state to your honor the grievances which we labor under and pray your protection against the Sac and Fox tribe of Indians who have again taken posses- sion of our lands near the mouth of Rock River and its vicinity. They have, and now are, burning our fences, destroying our crops of wheat now growing, by turning in all their horses. They also threaten our lives if we attempt to plant corn, and say they will cut it up ; that we have stolen their lands from them, and they are determined to extermi- nate us, provided we don't leave the country. Your honor, 110 doubt, is aware of the outrages that were committed by said Indians heretofore. Particularly last fall, they almost destroyed all our crops, and inade several attempts on the owners' lives when they attempted to prevent their depreda- tions, and actually wounded one man by stabbing him in several places. This spring they act in a much more out- rageous and menacing manner, so that we consider ourselves compelled to beg protection of you, which the agent and garrison on Rock Island refuse to give, inasmuch as they say they have no orders from government ; therefore, should we not receive adequate aid from your honor, we shall be com- pelled to abandon our settlement and the lands which we have purchased of government. Therefore, we have no doubt but your honor will better anticipate our condition than it is represented, and grant us immediate relief in the manner that to you may seem most likely to produce the desired effect. The number of Indians now among us is about six or seven hundred. They say there are more coming, and that the Pottawattomies and some of the Winnebagoes will help them, in case of an irruption with the whites.
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"The warriors now here are the Black Hawk's party, with other chiefs, the names of whom we are not acquainted with. Therefore, looking up to you for protection, we beg leave to remain, yours, etc."
( Signed ) John Wells
Thomas Lovitt
B. F. Pike
William Heans
H. McNiel
Charles French
Albert Wells
M. S. Hulls
Griffith Ausbury
Eli Wells
Thomas Gardiner
Asaph Wells
J. Vandruff
G. V. Miller
S. Vandruff
Edward Burner
John L. Bain
Joel Thompson
Horace Cook
Joel Wells, Jr.
David B. Hail
J. W. Spencer
John Barrel
Joseph Danforth
William Henry
William Brazher
Erastus Kent
Levi Wells
Jonah H. Case Samuel Wells
Joel Wells
Charles French
Michael Bartlet
Benjamin Goble
Huntington Wells
Gentry McCall
Thomas Davis
THE INDIAN AGENT REPORTS.
The settlers not hearing from the governor and receiving no aid from the officials at Fort Armstrong, applied to the Indian agent, and he wrote the following letter :
"Rock Island, May 15, 1831.
"Respected Sir : I have again to mention to you that the Black Hawk (a Sac chief) and his party are now at their old village on Rock River. They have commenced planting corn and say they will keep possession. I have been informed that they have pulled down a house and some fences which they have burned. They have also turned their horses in wheat fields and say they will destroy the wheat so that the white people shall not remain among them.
"This is what I expected from their manner of acting last fall, and which I mentioned to you in my letter of the 8th October last. I would not be at a loss were it not for the seventh article of the treaty with the Sacs and Foxes of 3d November, 1804.
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I respectfully ask, would it not be better to hold a treaty with those Indians and get them to remove peaceably, than to call on the military to force them off ? None of this band has as yet called on me for information. A few have been at my agency to have work done at the smith's shops. I have the honor to be,
"Your obedient servant,
"FELIX ST. VRAIN, Indian Agent.
"Gen. William Clark, Supt. Ind. of St. Louis."
WHISKY THE CAUSE.
One of the settlers living on what is now Vandruff's Island kept a sort of tavern where whisky was sold, and here the Indians came to barter for fire water. Black Hawk saw his young men and old bartering off their peltries and game for whisky and he saw the ruin the white man's fire water was creating among his people. He protested and begged the white man to stop selling the Indian whisky, but the sale went on. One day he, with some five or six of his braves, paddled in canoes from the village to Vandruff's Island where was the cabin occupied by the white man who was selling whisky to the Sacs. Silently the old chief marched up to the cabin followed by his braves. They did not stop to knock but entered the door and silently rolled the several barrels and kegs of whisky outside the cabin, knocked in the heads with their tomahawks, and allowed the pale face's fire water to run on the ground. Then they rowed back to their village.
This last act of the Indians greatly excited the whites and Benjamin F. Pike, a settler, was sent to Belleville in St. Clair County to personally ask the governor for assistance. He took with him the following petition from the settlers :
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THE SECOND PETITION.
"Farnhamburg, May 19, 1831. "To his Excellency, the Governor of the State of Illinois :
"We, the undersigned, citizens of Rock River and its vicinity, having previously sent a petition to your honor, praying your protection against these Sac Indians who were at that time doing every kind of mischief as was set forth and represented to your honor ; but feeling ourselves more aggrieved and our situation more precarious, we have been compelled to make our distress known to you by sending one of our neighbors who is well acquainted with our situation. If we do not get relief speedily we must leave our habitations to these savages and seek safety for our families by taking them down into the lower counties and suffer our houses and fences to be destroyed, as one of the principal war chiefs has threatened if we do not abandon our settlement his warriors should burn our houses over our heads. They were, at the time we sent our other petition, destroying our crops of wheat, and are still pasturing their horses in our fields, burn- ing our fences, and have thrown the roof off one house. They slot arrows at our cattle, killed our hogs, and every mischief.
" We have tried every argument to the agent for relief, but he tells us they are a lawless band, and he has nothing to do with them until further orders, leaving us still in suspense, as the Indians say if we plant we shall not reap, a proof of which we had last fall; they almost entirely destroyed all our crops of corn, potatoes, etc. Believing we shall receive pro- tection from your excellency, we shall go on with our farms until the return of the bearer ; and ever remain your humble supplicants, etc."
This petition was signed by almost all the persons who signed the first petition. On his way to Belleville in St. Clair County, where Governor Reynolds lived, Mr. Pike stopped over in Fulton County where he secured the following affidavit :
"State of Illinois, Fulton County.
"Personally appeared before mie, Stephen Dewey, an acting Justice of the Peace in and for said County of Fulton, and
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State of Illinois, Hiram Sanders and Ammyson Chapman, of the aforesaid county and state, and made oath that some time in the month of April last they went to the old Indian Sac town, about thirty miles up Rock River, for the purpose of farming and establishing a ferry across said river, and the Indians ordered us to move away and not to come there again, and we remained there a few hours.
"They then sent for their chief and he informed us that we might depart peaceably and if we did not that he would make us go.
"He therefore ordered the Indians to throw our furniture out of the house ; they accordingly did so and threatened to kill us if we did not depart. We therefore discovered that our lives were in danger, and consequently moved back again to the above county.
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