Black Hawk War

The Black Hawk War was fought in 1832 in the Midwestern section of the United States. The war was named for Black Hawk, the leader of a band of Sauk and Fox Indians, who fought against the U.S. Army and Illinois militia for possession of lands in the region.

Return of Black Hawk

The land included the village of Saukenok, at the junction of the Mississippi and Rock Rivers, which had been home to Black Hawk and his band of Sauk and Fox Indians for more than 150 years. In the fall of 1830, when Black Hawk and his followers returned from their hunt, they found white settlers occupying their village. Black Hawk did not sanction the sale of this land and was determined to regain the village; after a year of tension, he returned again in 1831, and Illinois Governor John Reynolds proclaimed it an "invasion of the state".

Related Topics:
Rock River - John Reynolds

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Responding to Governor Reynolds' call General Edmund Pendleton Gaines brought his army troops from St. Louis, Missouri to Saukenuk to insist upon Black Hawk's immediate departure. Black Hawk refused, and was driven across the Mississippi by Gaines' troops and an additional 1,400 militia called up by Reynolds. At this point, Black Hawk signed a surrender agreement in which he promised to remain west of the Mississippi. This did not last long, however.

Related Topics:
Edmund Pendleton Gaines - St. Louis, Missouri

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On April 6, 1832, chafing under the rule of Keokuk and stirred up by promises of British support by Sauk chief Napope and of welcome by the Winnebago prophet White Cloud in Illinois, Black Hawk and his band of 1,000 returned to Illinois in an attempt to reclaim their homeland. The Governor, considering this an invasion, mobilized the militia of 1,600 men and called for additional support from U.S. troops. Federal authorities, along with Sauk and Fox tribal councils, ordered Black Hawk and his band west of the Mississippi, but they refused to leave.

Related Topics:
April 6 - 1832 - Napope - Winnebago - White Cloud

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