The History of Peoria County, Illinois. Containing a history of the Northwest-history of Illinois-history of the county, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc., etc., Part 21

Author: Johnson & co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Johnson & Company
Number of Pages: 932

USA > Illinois > Peoria County > The History of Peoria County, Illinois. Containing a history of the Northwest-history of Illinois-history of the county, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc., etc. > Part 21

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

June 17th, Captain Adam W. Snyder, of Colonel Fry's regiment, sent to scout the country between Rock river and Galena, while encamped near Burr Oak Grove, in what is now the township of Erin, Stephenson county, was fired upon by four Indians. He pursued and killed them, losing one man mortally wounded. Returning, he was attacked by seventy Indians, both parties taking positions behind trees. General Whiteside, then a private, shot the leader of the band and they retreated, but were not pursued. Snyder lost two men killed and one wounded.

On the 20th, Stephenson's and Craig's companies, under command of Col. Strode, went to Waddam's Grove to bury the remains of Howard, Eames and Lovell, which they did, but left the dead Indian above ground. On their return they heard some suspicious sounds, but pushed on in the night to Imus's (in Rush township) and returned to Galena in safety. Afterwards, says Capt. Green, who was with Stephenson's company, we learned that " a large party of Sacs were within a half-hour's march of us, when we left the graves of our dead comrades."

This party, which numbered about 150, had left the main body of Sacs on Rock river, and, after following Strode's command, were, undoubtedly, the same who made a furious attack on the stockade at Apple river, on the night of the 24th, under the follow- ing circumstances : F. Dixon, Edmund Welsh, G. W. Herclerode and Jas. L. Kirkpatrick started to carry dispatches to Gen. Atkinson. They had passed Apple River Fort when they were fired upon by Indians, and Welsh was badly wounded. His companions told him to retreat to the fort, and to give him time, turned upon the foe and raised a yell. This temporarily checked them ; Welsh reached the fort and gave the alarm. Their strategem succeeded ; Dixon dashed through the savages, and escaped to Galena. Kirk- patrick and Herclerode gained the fort ; the gates were shut, and for three-quarters of an hour the battle raged with fury. The women and girls molded bullets, made cartridges and loaded the guns. Herclerode was killed while taking deliberate aim at an Indian

138

GENERAL HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.

over the top of the pickets. The number of Indians killed was never known, but they were supposed to have lost several. They finally withdrew, after stealing a large number of cattle, and destroying considerable property.

June 25th. a detachment of General Posey's brigade. commanded by Major John Dement, and encamped at Kellogg's Grove, or Burr Oak Grove, as it was then called. was attacked by a large party of Indians, and a sbarp skirmish ensued. Major Dement lost five men and about twenty horses killed. The Indians left nine of their number stretched upon the field. General Posey, then encamped at Buffalo Grove, hastened to the relief of Dement. but the Indians had retreated two hours before he arrived. He re- turned to Kellogg's Grove to await the arrival of his baggage wagons, and then marched to Fort Hamilton, Michigan Territory.

On the 30th of June, three men at work in a corn-field at Sinsinawa Mound, more generally known as Jones' Mound, ten miles from Galena. were attacked by a small party of Indians, and two of them. James Boxley and John Thompson, were killed. Major Ste[ henson, with thirty men, started immediately on receipt of the news to bury the murdered men and pursue the murderers. The bodies were shockingly mangled and both scalped, and Thompson's heart cut out. The Indians were followed to the residence of Mr. Jordon, on the Mississippi, where they had stolen a canoe and crossed the river. These Indians could hardly have been any of Black Hawk's band, unless they had deserted and were making their way back to the west side of the Mississippi.

It has always been admitted by those who were familiar with the facts, that the Stillman's run affair precipitated the war and led to the several murders and outrages herein quoted. But it never was believed that all these atrocities were committed by Black Hawk's band, or with his knowledge or approval. It is certain that a large number of young Winnebagoes, Pottawatomies, and straggling representatives of other tribes took advantage of the condition of affairs and hung on the outskirts of his forces, just as the bummers hovered in the shadow of Sherman's army, when he was marching " To the Sea." When the war closed at Bad Axe. it was learned beyond question. that nearly all the murders had been committed by these stragglers.

The alarm continued and the excitement increased, and on the 30th of June, all the inhabitants along the Mississippi river, from the present site of Savannah and north of Galena to Cassville, Wisconsin, either went to Galena or some of the other stockades for safety, and it was not considered safe to go the shortest distance outside of the forts.

Captain George W. Harrison, in command of Fort Hamilton on the Pick-a-ton-e-ka, thirty miles from Galena, after vainly endeavoring to get a cannon, went to Colonel Hamilton's furnace and cast several lead pieces, intended for two-pounders, which were properly mounted at the stockade, and answered every purpose.

The new levy of troops arrived at Dixon on the 15th of June, and were organized in three brigades. General Alexander Posey was assigned to the command of the first ; General Milton R. Alexander to the second, and General James D. Henry to the third, General Whiteside having enlisted as a private under the call for the new levy.

While the whirligig of time was recording the events here narrated, Black Hawk's forces kept on their march up Rock river, with the intention, it was believed, of return- ing to the west side of the Mississippi, as the forces of General Atkinson below prevented their return by the way they came, and, as they doubtless believed after the affray with Stillman, no flag of truce or proposals for peace, would be received by the whites. But while Black Hawk was proceeding northward, various signs of straggling Indians were discovered along the Mississippi river. July 6, Lieutenant Orrin Smith was sent, with twenty men. to Jordon's farm, opposite Dubuque mines, to seour the country there. On the 9th, Indians were in the vicinity of Rountree's Fort ( Plattsville ), where they held n war dance around the scalp of a woman. On the 10th, the Galenian said: "To-day

139

GENERAL HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.

we learn that the trail of the Indians shows that they innst have come from the west of the Mississippi, in a direction from Dubuque mines.'

July 14, after the final march against the Indians was commenced, Governor Rey- nolds, Colonel Fields (Secretary of State), Judges Smith and Brown, Colonels Hickman, Grant, Bresse and Gatewood, Captain Jeffreys and. others, arrived at Galena from the army. These gentlemen reported that the Indians were entirely destitute of provisions. and were endeavoring to reach and re-cross the Mississippi.

July 15, an express arrived at Galena, stating that Captain Harney, of the U. S. A., had found and pursned the trail of the Indians for thirty miles, passing four of their encampments in that distance, and that he found many signs of their want of provisions, "such as where they had butchered horses, dug for roots, and scraped the trees for bark," and it became evident that the military had concluded that Black Hawk was doing his best to escape to the west side of the Mississippi. Orders were sent to troops stationed on the banks of that river " to prevent or delay the Indians from crossing until the brigade sent by General Atkinson could come up with them." Indian outrages had now nearly ceased in Jo Daviess county, and a brief sketch of the movements of the troops from Dixon's Ferry to Bad Axe will close this part of the history.

STRIKING THE TRAIL. -

About the 25th of June every thing being in readiness, General Atkinson com- menced his slow and cautious march up Rock river, and finally reached Lake Koshko- nong, where he was joined by General Alexander, when the march was continued to White river, or Whitewater, where they were joined by Posey's brigade and the Galena battalion under Major Dodge. From there General Alexander, Gen. Henry and Major Dodge were sent to Fort Winnebago for supplies. Here they heard that Black Hawk was making his way toward the Wisconsin river, and, disobeying orders, Henry and Dodge started in pursuit (Gen. Alexander and his brigade returning to Gen. Atkinson), struck the broad, fresh trail of the Indians and followed them with tireless energy. Ever and anon they would find old men, women and children, who could not keep up and had been abandoned to their fate by the 'fleeing Indians. Some of them were killed. One old man who had been left to die was found sitting against the trunk of a tree and was cowardly shot and scalped by a surgeon, who afterwards exhibited the scalp as a trophy of his valor.

THE FIRST BATTLE - WISCONSIN HEIGHTS.

On the afternoon of the 31st day of July, 1832, the pursuing forces arrived at the hills that skirt the left bank of the Wisconsin river, about fifty miles above its mouth. near the present village of Muscoda, and nearly opposite Sauk Prairie, where they came in plain sight of Black Hawk's entire party, including women and children. The Indians were in the bottom lands, hastening to remove their people'to an island in the river, to avoid a conflict in which they could not reasonably expect any thing bnt extermination, but to cover the retreat, it was necessary for Black Hawk to make as bold a stand as pos- sible until this purpose was accomplished.

The scouts, who were some distance in advance of the column of pursuers, came suddenly upon some Indians as they were descending the high grounds, by whom they were instantly attacked, and forced to fall back on the main body of the army which had already been formed for action. Colonel Dodge occupied the front and received the first fire of the enemy. The main body, under General Henry, soon joined Dodge's battalion, and their united action soon obtained a complete victory over the enemy. The loss of the whites in this engagement was one man killed and eight wounded. The. Indian foss was estimated at about sixty killed and a great number wounded. The first Indian killed was one who was discovered with a pack of meat on his back. A soldier fired at

140

GENERAL HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.

him, but missed his aim, when the Indian threw down his gun and was bayonetted by Sam- ples Journey after he surrendered. This is known as the battle of Wisconsin Heights.

STRENGTH OF THE INDIANS.

The Indians were supposed to number from six to eight hundred, but Colonel Pat- terson, of Oquawka, already quoted, is authority for the statement that Black Hawk told him that his forces at no time exceeded five hundred braves. A few of these were Win- nebagoes. When he started up Rock river, he expected that his army would be rein- forced and perhaps doubled by Winnebagoes and Pottawatomies, but he was disappointed in the latter, as not one of them joined him.

"At this battle," says Mr. H. S. Townsend, one of the participants, now living in Warren township, Jo Daviess county, " the Indians were badly whipped by our troops and worse whipped by starvation. Irregular firing continued until about ten o'clock at night, when it ceased, and the men bivonacked for rest and slept on their arms."

THE TOMAHAWK BURIED -PRAYER FOR PEACE.

"About daylight, the next morning after the battle," says Captain D. S. Harris, of Galena, then lieutenant in Stephenson's company. " the camp was startled by the clarion voice of the Prophet from a hill nearly a mile away. At first we thought it was an alarm. but soon found that the Prophet wanted peace. Although he was so far distant I could hear distinctly every word, and I understood enough to know that he did not want to tight. The interpreter reported that he said they had their squaws and families with them and were starving-that they did not want to fight any more, but wanted peace and would do no more harm if they could be permitted to cross the Mississippi in peace."" Mr. P. J. Pilcher, now of Elizabeth, Jo Daviess county, who was also there, says they were awakened by the shrill voice of the chief, and that he plainly understood : "Ne- com, Pe-e l-0 0-0 :" " FRIENDS, WE FIGHT NO MORE." Mr. Pilcher says he told Henry what the Indian said, but General Henry replied " pay no attention to any thing they say or do, but form in line of battle." The Winnebagoes in camp also informed the officers of the meaning of the Prophet's message, and " early in the morning," continued Mr. Pilcher, " they went with us to the spot where the Indian had stood, when he pro- claimed peace, and there we found a Tomahawk buried," an emphatic declaration that so far as Black Hawk and his band were concerned, hostilities were ended. No attention was paid to this second attempt to negotiate peace. It has been said that the officers had no interpreter and did not know what the Prophet said until after the war closed. This excuse is exploded by the direct and emphatic testimony of Captain Har- ris and Mr. Pilcher, that it was declared the starved and dying Indians must be exterminated.

The night after the battle of Wisconsin Heights, Black Hawk made his escape down the river in the direction of Iowa with his forces and people, and not an Indian remained on the south side of the Wisconsin. General Atkinson came up with his command. General Henry was ordered back for supplies, and a courier was dispatched to Fort Crawford (Prairie du Chien. ) with instructions to the commandant there to intercept the Indians in their passage down the Wisconsin river. In carrying out these instructions. that officer captured several canoes with women and children, but the warriors evaded interception by marching on foot along the bank of the river and under the bluffs.

The line of pursuit was taken up on the morning of the first day of August, by General Atkinson and Colonel Dodge, who crossed their respective divisions to the north side of the Wisconsin, where they struck the trail of the retreating Indians, and fol- lowed it until night fall, when they went into camp. The great number of dead bodies und newly made Indian graves which they found, told too plainly the losses and sufferings sustained by Black Hawk's people.

141

GENERAL HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.

A steamboat had been dispatched from Fort Crawford by Colonel Loomis as far as Black river, where a number of canoes were seized which had been provided, as was be- lieved, by the Winnebagoes to aid Black Hawk in his contemplated retreat across the Mississippi. The boat returned to the fort on the evening of the first day of August, and on the morning of the second, a more serviceable one was sent up, and arrived at the mouth of the Bad Axe before the battle commenced, and in time to participate in the last armed conflict of the Black Hawk war.

BATTLE AT BAD AXE.

About two o'clock on the morning of the second day of August, 1832, the forces under command of Atkinson aud Dodge, broke camp and renewed the pursuit. Colonel Dodge's command, supported by the regular troops under Colonel Zachary Taylor, form- ing the advance. About sunrise, Captain Dickson, who commanded the scouts, reported that he was up with the Indians, and asked for orders. Colonel Dodge directed him to attack them at once, and at the same time moved rapidly forward with his own command, supported by the regulars. The Indians were attacked in front by fire from the steam- boat, on all sides and in the rear, by a determined foe. The battle lasted about two hours, and was a complete rout and slaughter of the Indians, and ended the career of Black Hawk as a warrior chieftain.

AFTER THE BATTLE - SCENES AND INCIDENTS

It is stated as a fact, by men who were present, and whose statements, from their high standing for truth and honor are of unquestioned veracity, that when the Indians were swimming the river, the steamboat was run among them, drowning the starved, fleeing creatures by scores. If this statement is true, and there can be no doubt, it does not reflect any credit upon the civilization and christianity of that day.

Indian men and women plunged into the Mississippi and sought to reach the Iowa shore by swimming, some of them mounted on their ponies, but mostly without. Many of them were drowned in the attempt, while many of those who succeeded in reaching the western shore were pursued and killed by a body of Sioux Indians who were on that side of the river. It is related that a Sac woman named Ne-wa-se, the sister of a distin- guished chief, succeeded in escaping from the battle field in the thickest of the fight and in reaching the bank of the Mississippi with her babe. As she reached the water's edge, an Indian man mounted on a pony, was about to plunge in to swim across. Quick as thought Ne-wa-se wrapped her child in her blanket, grasped its folds in her teeth, and then, catching the pony's tail with her hands, was carried safely across. Other mothers, with their children fastened upon their backs, plunged in and swam safely across, but more of them who attempted this means of escape went down beneath the waves.

The battle of Bad Axe terminated the war, and now after nearly half a century has passed since the occurrence of the stirring events narrated, and the Indians have disap- peared before the westward advance of civilization, it is but just that the truth should be recorded. Passion and prejudice have passed away, and it must be admitted that when the tomahawk and scalping knife were drawn in 1832, it was only after the whites had commenced the carnival of blood by disregarding the flag of truce and murdering one of its bearers at Stillman's Run. The vindictive pursuit and murder of women and children after the Prophet had, in person, informed his ruthless pursuers that "his people were starving and wanted peace," can not be justified. It was as savage an act as the savages themselves had committed. It must be added, also, that after Stillman's defeat, Black Hawk, then an old man, lost all control of his young braves, who were led by Ne-o-pope. But for the recklessness of Stillman's soldiers, in all human probability the subsequent acts of savage barbarity by both Indians and whites had remained undone.

142

GENERAL HISTORY OF ILLINOIS

FLIGHT OF BLACK HAWK -SURRENDER.

After the battle of Bad Axe, Black Hawk fled to the Winnebago village at Prairie La Crosse for refuge. At the instance of the authorities two Winnebago Indians, De- corah (the one-eyed), and Chæter, went to him with the message that if he would come in and surrender to General Street, the Indian agent at Prairie du Chien, he would be released immediately after. It was reported that the fallen chief told them he knew they lied, but that, for the sake of his wife and children, whom he knew to be starving. he would go. On the 27th of August the messengers returned with Black Hawk, two of his sons, and the Prophet, and delivered them to General Street. During the cere- monies attending the surrender, Black Hawk, in referring to the late battle. made the following

REMARKABLE SPEECH :

" My warriors fell around me. It began to look dismal. I saw my evil day at hand. The sun rose clear in the morning ; at night it sank in a dark cloud, and looked like a ball of fire. This was the last sun that shone on Black Hawk. He is now a prisoner to the white man. But he can stand the torture. He is not afraid of death. He is no coward. Black Hawk is an Indian. He has done nothing of which any Indian need be ashamed. He has fought the battles of his country against the white man, who came year after year to cheat the Indians and take away their lands. You know the eause of our making war. It is known to all white men. They ought to be ashamed of it. The white men despise the Indians, and drive them from their homes. But the In- dians are not deceitful. Indians do not steal.

" Black Hawk is satisfied. He will go to the world of spirits contented. He has clone his duty. His Father will meet and reward him.

" The white men do not sealp the head, but they do worse -they poison the heart. It is not pure with them. The Indians will not be scalped, but in a few years they will become like the white man, so that you can not hurt them : and there must be, as in the white settlements, as many officers as men, to take care of them and keep them in order. Farewell to my nation; Farewell to Black Hawk!"

CAPTIVITY AND RELEASE.

Black Hawk and his two sons were held as prisoners of war. By the terms of the treaty made at Davenport, Iowa, in September, 1832, between General Winfield Scott and Governor John Reynolds, of Ilinois, on the part of the United States, and Keokuk and other chiefs and head men on the part of the Sae and Fox Indians, by which the latter agreed to relinquish their right to the lands on the eastern slope of Iowa, com- monly known as the Black Hawk purchase, it was agreed that the captives should be held at the will of the President. At that time Colonel Zachary Taylor, afterwards elected President of the United States, was in command at Fort Crawford, and the captives were placed in charge of the late rebel Jeff Davis, then a lieutenant in the regular army, to be taken to Jefferson barracks at St. Louis. They were afterwards held at Fortress Monroe until June 4, 1833, when President Jackson directed their release rom captivity and gave them in charge of Major Garland to be taken on a grand tour through the country to exhibit to them the folly of ever renewing hostilities against the United States. They were toll the people of the United States were as numerous as the leaves of the forest, and wherever they went they attracted much attention and large erowds of the curious. At this time Black Hawk, according to his own statement, was about sixty-six years of age, although he looked, say those who knew him, mich younger. He was about five feet eight inches in height, sinewy. with broad chest, the high cheek bones of his race, high forehead and great penetrating black eyes, with the

143

GENERAL HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.

glance of an eagle, dignified and majestic manner, although manifestly much depressed in spirit after his great misfortunes.

The starving condition of his wife and children, more than any other cause, in- duced Black Hawk to surrender himself at Prairie du Chien. After his surrender his wife and little son went south and stopped near St. Francisville, Clark county, Missouri, where she was a frequent visitor at the house of Jerre Wayland, one of the "old settlers" of that neighborhood. Wayland, always one of nature's noblemen, fully sym- pathised with her in her misfortunes. She brooded sorrowfully over the forcible absence of her lord, and often declared she never expected him to return, but Wayland sought to keep up her courage with the assurance that he would come in good time. When at last he did return, she was filled with joy, and his arrival home was made an occasion for a great feast, at which Black Hawk, Keokuk and their families were all present.

HIS DEATH AND BURIAL.

After his return from captivity, Black Hawk lived among his people on the Iowa river until that reservation was sold in 1836, when, with the rest of the Sacs and Foxes, he removed to the Des Moines river, where he remained until his death on the 3d day of October, 1838. His burial place was near a large spring, not far from the residence of James Jordon, an old Indian trader, near the village of Eldon (once called Ashton), at the Des Moines river crossing of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific railroad. His burial place and costume were thus described to the writer by Captain James W. Camp- bell, of Fort Madison :

"He was buried in a pen or crib, constructed after the Indian fashion. It was made of round poles, and was about ten feet long and three feet wide, and about as high as a man's shoulders when sitting on the ground. The body of the once proud old chief was dressed in a swallow-tailed coat made from blue cloth, which was elaborately decorated with brass buttons, epaulets, etc. When robed for burial,' he was carried to the place selected for his sepulture, and placed in a sitting position in the west end of the pen, with his face towards the rising sun. His gun, tomahawk and blanket were placed by his side, and the pen covered over, leaving his head and neck above the covering and exposed to the weather. A plug hat, adorned with a broad, bright colored ribbon, was fixed upon his head, and his face was painted red and striped with black, just as a young Indian dandy painted when he went a courting, thus conveying the idea to the surviving Indians that their once great chief and warrior had gone a court- ing to another world, where, if he received the favors of the Great Spirit, he would be united to some squaw who had passed the bounds of mortality, and that they would remain through an endless eternity in the green and happy hunting grounds, where deer and elk abounded, and where no white man would ever come to molest them."

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

The History of Peoria County, Illinois. Containing a history of the Northwest-history of Illinois-history of the county, its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc., etc., Part 21

Author: Johnson & co., Chicago, pub Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago : Johnson & Company Number of Pages: 932

Author: Johnson & co., Chicago, pub
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago : Johnson & Company
Number of Pages: 932