BLACK HAWK’S BIRTH.
Mr. Jordan asserts that many errors have crept into history concerning Black Hawk. The most important one is that which fixes his birth in 1767. It will be observed in the State history, which precedes this sketch, that he was born in the Sac village, about three miles from the junction of Rock River with the Mississippi in Illinois, 1767. Mr. Jordan pronounces the date an error. From Black Hawk’s own lips, he learned that the time of his birth was 1775, but the day is not given.
The date 1767 is given in no less an authoritative manner that that of Schoolcraft’s standard work on the North American Indians, prepared under his supervision by order of Congress. The temerity of venturing to correct a statement made by so eminent an investigator, is not possessed by the compiler of these pages, but we feel that the duty of one who attempts to preserve historic fact is plainly of a character which necessitates apparent rashness. In the case in question, there is little doubt but that all writers subsequent to Schoolcraft have unhesitatingly accepted his conclusions, and have given less care to researches in that direction than would have been given had some more obscure man chronicled the event. Hence the general unanimity of belief that the brave began life in 1767.
As it is a question—since here we venture to raise the doubt—which future historians will probably seek earnestly to solve, let us review the grounds we have for regarding Mr. Schoolcraft in error, and then leave the subject to be definitely determined by more competent writers.
One can scarcely conceive of a more perplexing question that than of an Indian’s age, if taken on general principles. Few among the more intelligent ones, are able to tell their years. Their methods of computing time are vague at best, and it is no uncommon thing to find an old Indian claiming greater age than is reasonably his allotted share. The birth of children among savage tribes is not a matter of record. Modern, as well as the more remote, events in the lives of such tribes partake of the traditionary character of recital, which leads to confusion. If, for example, a prominent figure in their history once becomes invested with qualities which distinguish him, he is ever afterward referred to by symbolic epithet. The names of Indian chiefs are chosen from their vocabulary, rich in natural similitudes. Is it not reasonable to suppose that if once announced, even without authority, an Indian brave’s age, like his name, will remain unquestioned among the people of his tribe? Is it not also reasonable to believe that such an expression concerning Black Hawk’s age may have been made, and that Mr. Schoolcraft found that the prevailing opinion pointed to 1767 at the date? Having thus understood it, and hearing it repeated frequently, what more natural conclusion could he have drawn that that it was correct? Assuming (in the absence of positive proof either way) that Mr. Schoolcraft conversed with Black Hawk personally on this subject, it will undoubtedly appear to those who remember the Indian’s reticent manner with the whites, that an acquiescence in the general belief would be more likely to follow a casual inquiry concerning his age, that a refutation of the popular idea. It was only to those who could converse with him in his native tongue, and who were associated with him continually, that Black Hawk cast aside his customary reserve. He did not entertain an instinctive love for the whites, especially for Americans; an there is no evidence at hand to convince us that Mr. Schoolcraft enjoyed the confidence of the brave. So much can be said in negative argument of the case.
As to affirmative argument, we have the positive assurance of Mr. Jordan that Black Hawk frequently talked upon this subject, and declared all statements fixing his birth in 1767 erroneous. The pioneer and the native families lived side by side. The two men associated almost like brothers. Mr. Jordan spoke the language of the Sacs as fluently as his own, and thus inspired a degree of friendliness unattainable by those who were unfamiliar with the tongue. The whole question, in fact, resolves itself into one of veracity on the part of Mr. Jordan, if there exists documentary evidence, under Mr. Schoolcraft’s hand, that Black Hawk told him positively of his age, then the matter lies between these men. If no such proof is extant, the reason for accepting the statement made by Mr. Jordan are already defined.
There is a physiological argument in support of Mr. Jordan. If Black Hawk was born in 1775, he was sixty-three years of age at the time of his death. Physicians will admit that there is no more critical period in man’s life than that, and the breaking-down of a vigorous constitution would be likely to occur then, in the case of an active person like Black Hawk. We know of no rule which makes the Indian warrior, who has led a life of conflict and excitement, an exception to this apparent law of nature.
The stories of Black Hawk’s early battles, and especially his first one, may be offered in contradiction of the statement made by Mr. Jordan. Is there positive proof that his first scalp was taken in any particular year? It is said that he was sixteen years of age when that brave deed was performed; but other traditions make him still older at that time, while some even cast a shadow on the truth of the story. Of course, if testimony fixing the date of any event, and the brave’s age at the moment of its occurrence, can be produced, the simultaneous record will settle this question at once. Who will solve the enigma?
The age of Black Hawk is not the only point in his history upon which conflicting evidence exists. His name in the original is variously given as to orthography. In Schoolcraft’s history it is spelled Muc-co-da-ka-ka-ke. Catlin spelled it Muk-a-tah-mish-o-kah-kaih. Jordan spells it Mu-ca-tah-mish-a-ka-kah. Maj. Beach spelled it Muck-a-ta-mish-e-ki-ak-ki-ak.
This difference of spelling, however, is of no consequence, as it unquestionably resulted from an attempt to produce, with English letters, the peculiar pronunciation of the Indian tongue. The literal translation into English is a black hawk.
Another error exists concerning the official position of the man. He was not a chief, either by inheritance or election. His father was a leading spirit, perhaps a prophet or a man of commanding influence in the councils of the Sacs. At an early age, Black Hawk was allowed to don the war-paint, because of his having slain an enemy of his tribe. This rather traditionary statement comes unsupported, but is given for what it is worth. The story runs that the youth was but sixteen years old when he hung his first scalp upon his wigwam.
In character, the Indian boy was brave, cautious and ambitious. He aspired to rank and sought the gratification of his passion for power by stealthy means. He possessed marvelous oratorical abilities, in that gift equaling the great speaker Keokuk. As a warrior, he was dependent more upon strategy than upon the qualities which white men deem essential to military prowess; but Black Hawk was not a cruel or blood-thirsty man, who slew merely for the sake of slaughter. He was a paradox in some characteristics, and the report given by Mr. Jordan, of his latter days, contradicts the generally-believed account of his early methods of self-promotion. However, one can accept the statements of his friend without too great a tax on one’s credulity, when it is remembered that the last years, and not the first, were spent in this vicinity. Black Hawk the youth was very different from Black Hawk the old and defeated man.
History teaches that Black Hawk’s efforts at generalship were failures, when military method was required. His power lay in sudden and fierce attacks, with dramatic strategy and rush of mounted braves. It was by such means, and the employment of his great eloquence in council, that he gained his place as a leader. He assumed the place of authority over Keokuk, his ranking officer, and maintained his hold upon his men without ever claiming to be a chieftain. He called himself a Brave, and delighted in the title.
The Sacs and Foxes, according to their traditions, once dwelt upon the shores of the great lakes. Gradually they were pushed westward, until in time they came to occupy a large portion of Northern Illinois. In spite of the pressure of the whites, this band occupied a site on the east shore of the Mississippi, near Rock River. Here Black Hawk was, in 1832, the controlling spirit. “He was never a chief, either by inheritance or election,” declares Maj. Beach, “and his influence was shared by a wily old savage, of part Winnebago blood, called the Prophet, who could do with Black Hawk pretty much as he pleased; and also by a Sac named Nahpope, the English of which is Soup, and whom the writer found to be a very friendly and manageable old native, as was also Black Hawk.”
The following graphic account of the slaughter of the Iowas, by the warriors under Pashapaho and Black Hawk, is from a paper prepared by Uriah Biggs and published in the “Annals of Iowa.” The battle-field was on the present site of Iowaville, which was long ago the principal seat of the Iowa nation of Indians, and was where Black Hawk afterward died. At the time of the massacre, Black Hawk was a young man, and the graphic account of his first steps toward chieftainship, as related by Mr. Biggs, is made up of the details given by the Indians who participated in the battle:
“Contrary to long-established custom of Indian attack, this battle was brought on in daytime, the attending circumstances justifying this departure from the well-settled usages of Indian warfare. The battle-field is a level river, bottom prairie, of about four miles in length and two miles wide, near the middle, narrowing down to points at either end. The main area of the bottom rises, perhaps twenty feet above the river, leaving a narrow strip of low bottom along the river, covered with trees that belted the prairie on the river-side with a thick forest, and the river-bank was fringed with a dense growth of willows. Near the lower end of the prairie, and near the river-bank, was situated the Iowa village, and about two milse above the town, and near the middle of the prairie, is situated a small natural mound, covered at that time with a tuft of small trees and brush growing on its summit.
“In the rear of this mound lay a belt of wet prairie, which, at the time here spoken of, was covered with a dense crop of rank, coarse grass; bordering this wet prairie on the north, the country rises abruptly into elevated and broken river-bluffs, covered with a heavy forest for many mile in extent, portions of it thickly clustered with undergrowth, affording a convenient shelter for the stealthy approach of the cat-like foe. Through this forest the Sac and Fox war-party made their way in the night-time, and secreted themselves in the tall grass spoken of above, intending to remain in ambush through the day and make such observations as this near proximity to their intended victims might afford, to aid them in the contemplated attack on the town during the following night. From this situation their spies could take a full survey of the situation of the village, and watch every movement of the inhabitants, by which means they were soon convinced the Iowas had no suspicion of their presence.
“At the foot of the mound above noticed, the Iowas had their race-course, where they diverted themselves with the excitements of the horse, and skilled their young warriors in cavalry evolutions. In these exercises mock battles are fought, and the Indian tactics of attack and defense, of victory and defeat, are carefully inculcated, by which means of skill in horsemanship is acquired which is rarely excelled. Unfortunately for them this day was selected for these equestrian sports, and, wholly unconscious of the proximity of their foes, the warriors repaired to the race-ground, leaving the most of their arms in the village, and their old men and women and children unprotected.
“Pashapaho, who was chief in command of the enemy’s forces, perceived at once the advantage this state of things afforded for a complete surprise of his now doomed victims, and ordered Black Hawk to file off with his young warriors through the tall grass, and gain the cover of the timber along the river bank, and, with the utmost speed reach the village ad commence the battle, while he remained with his division in the ambush, to make a simultaneous assault on the unarmed men, whose attention was engrossed with the excitement of the races. The plan was skilfully laid and most dexterously prosecuted. Black Hawk, with his forces, reached the village undiscovered and made a furious onslaught upon its defenseless inhabitants, by firing one general volley into their midst, and completing the slaughter with the tomahawk and scalping-knife, aided by the devouring flames with which they engulfed the village as soon as the fire-brand could be spread from lodge to lodge.
“On the instant of the report of fire-arms at the village, the forces under Pashapaho leaped from their couchant position in the grass, and sprang tiger-like upon the astonished and unarmed Iowas in the midst of their racing sports. The first impulse of the latter naturally led them to make the utmost speed to reach their arms in the village, and protect, if possible, their wives and children from the attacks of merciless assailants.
“The distance from the place of the attack on the prairie was two miles, and a great number fell in the flight by the bullets and tomahawks of their adversaries, who pressed them closely with a running fire the whole way, and they only reached their town in time to witness the horrors of its destruction. Their whole village was in flames, and the dearest objects of their lives lay in slaughtered heaps amidst the devouring element, and the agonizing groans of the dying mingled with the exulting shouts of a victorious foe, filled their hearts with a maddening despair. Their wives and children who had been spared the general massacre were prisoners, and, together with their arms, were in possession of the victors, and all that could now be done was to draw off their shattered and defenseless forces and save as many lives as possible by a retreat across the Des Moines River, which they effected in the best possible manner, and took a position among the Soap Creek hills.
“The complete success attending a battle does not always imply brave action, for, as in the present instance, bravery does not belong to a wanton attack on unarmed men and defenseless women and children. Yet it is due to Pashapaho, as commander of an army, to give him full credit for his quick perception of the advantages circumstances had placed within his reach, and for his sagacity in at once changing the programme of attack to meet occurring events, and the courage and intrepidity to seize these events and insure his success. The want of these essential qualities in a commander has occasioned the loss of many a battle in what is courteously termed civilized warfare.
 
“The Iowas, cut off from all hope of retrieving their loss, sent a flag of truce to Pashapaho, submitting their fate to the will of their conqueror, and a parley ensued, which resulted in the Iowas becoming an integral part of the Sac and Fox nation; but experiencing the ill-usage that is the common fate of a conquered people, they besought the United States authorities to purchase their undivided interest in the country, and thus allow them to escape from the tyranny of their oppressors. The purchase was accordingly made in 1825, and they removed to the Missouri River, and have so wasted in numbers as to scarcely preserve their existence as an independent tribe. The sole cause of this war was the insatiable ambition of the Sac and Fox Indians, as this was their first acquaintance with the Iowa nation or tribe.”
On page 74 of this volume, is given the generally accepted version of the causes which led to the Black Hawk war of 1830; but that story is vague and unsatisfactory. On page 157 another, and, in the main, a correct account is given. From Mr. Jordan we learn facts of more than local interest in this disputed case, and give then here.
Somewhere about 1828-29, a man named Watts, while driving cattle through this region, about where Iowaville now is, was beset by Indians. Watts had with him a man whose name is not remembered now. This man was killed by a savage. The murder was committed on Indian territory, and a demand was made on Black Hawk for the criminal. He was delivered up to the United States authorities and takes to St. Louis, where he was tried and condemned. Some if the tribe went to St. Louis to intercede for their companion, but did not accomplish their purpose. The Indian was hanged. However, while the Indians were in St. Louis they fell victims of sharpers, who obtained a professed title to Black Hawk’s village, on the Rock River, by presents of less value than the Government price of the land. When the embassy returned with their ill-gotten trinkets, Black Hawk was wroth and denounced the fraud. Subsequently, probably the next spring, on the opening of the season of 1830, the men who had obtained such title to the land came on, and drove the Indian women and children from the village, during the temporary absence of the braves. Black Hawk made issue with the fraudulent possessors of his home, and offered to stake thirty of his braves against thirty white soldiers to test the question of title by a fight. The offer was declined by the military, but the whites said they would pit the United States army against the Indians of his tribe. Black Hawk took up the gauntlet, and hence the famous, but disastrous, Black Hawk war. This version, it will be seen, substantially corroborates the story obtained by research in Illinois.
Of the Black Hawk war, it is not within the province of this sketch to speak; it belongs to the history of Illinois, and has been repeatedly written up. After the defeat of Black Hawk, in 1832, he was captured and taken to Prairie du Chien. After an imprisonment in Jefferson Barracks, and, subsequently, in Fortress Monroe, whither he was taken, he was returned, at the intercession of Keokuk, to this region. In his old age, Black Hawk sought the company of the garrison, his band was broken up, and the once great chief was left alone in his declining years.
Black Hawk’s phrenological developments indicated large self-esteem destructiveness and combativeness. And incident is related of his vanity, which goes to prove that his strong points were counterbalanced by weak ones, or rather that his undisciplined nature betrayed its weakness, as would not have been the case had conventionality produced its usual result of indifference in manner. The citizens of Fort Madison gave a ball, in the winter of 1838, and Black Hawk was one of the lions of the occasion. He was accompanied by his squaw and son, and the two men were gaudily equipped in full-dress uniforms, silver epaulets, etc., things presented to them while in Washington the preceding fall. This fine military outfit was made extremely ludicrous by being combined with cowhide brogans and old-fashioned chapeaus. But Black Hawk was wholly complacent and satisfied, and the three received much flattery during the evening.
Later during the festivities, Black Hawk was seen contemplating himself in a large mirror at one end of the hall, quite unconscious that he was being observed. He was soliloquizing to himself, “Nish-e-shing (great or good) Black Hawk one big Cap-a-tain. Howh, howh!”
Black Hawk evinced great fondness for military glory and display. There was an ardent love of fame that never ceased to burn in his spirit, even through the trial of Keokuk’s promotion above him as chief of the two tribes. When Black Hawk was captured after the battle of Bad Axe (his last battle), an officer in the army at that time relates that the agonized feelings of the conquered warrior were peculiarly touching in their manifestations. He says: “I shall never forget the appearance of Black Hawk when they brought him into the fort a captive. He was clad in a dress of white tanned deerskins, without paint or ornament, save one small feather attached to his scalp-lock. His fan was the tail of a calumet eagle. He sat down, pale and dejected, his face in his hand, his legs crossed, and occasionally casting his eyes upon the officers. He felt that he was a prisoner, and was speechless.”
Being permitted to speak in his own defense, he rose and said: “You have taken me prisoner, with all my warriors. When I saw that I could not beat you by Indian fighting, I determined to rush upon you and fight you face to face. I fought hard; but your guns were well aimed, and the bullets flew like birds in the air, and whizzed by our ears like the wind through the trees in winter. My warriors fell around me. It began to look dismal. I saw my evil day at hand. The sun rose dim on us in the morning, and at night it sank in a dark cloud and looked like a ball of fire. That was the last sun that shone on Black Hawk. His heart is dead and no longer beats in his bosom. He is now a prisoner to the white men; they will do with him as they wish; but he can stand torture, and is not afraid of death. He is no coward-Black Hawk is an Indian. He has done nothing of which an Indian ought to be ashamed. He has fought for his countrymen, their squaws and papooses, against white men who came year after year to cheat them and take away their lands. He is satisfied; he will go to the world of spirits contented; he has done his duty; his father will meet him there and commend him. Black Hawk is a true Indian, and disdains to cry like a woman. He feels for his wife, his children and his friends; but he does not care for himself. Farewell, my nation! Black Hawk tried to save you and avenge your wrongs. He drank the blood of some of the whites; he has been taken prisoner, and his plans are stopped. He can do no more; he is near his end; his sun is setting, and he will rise no more. Farewell to Black Hawk.”
It seems that Keokuk had predicted downfall and disaster to Black Hawk for madly rushing into the war, which prediction was fulfilled. Yet Keokuk showed to his defeated rival the utmost consideration, and when the tribes were informed that the President considered Keokuk the principal chief, instead of showing a spirit of triumph over him, Keokuk rather aimed to soften the blow. Maj. Garland made the announcement, and said that he hoped Black Hawk would conform to the arrangement, and that dissensions would cease. From some mistake of the interpreter, Black Hawk understood that he was ordered to submit to the advice of Keokuk. He instantly lost all command of himself, and arose, trembling with anger, and exclaimed, “I am a man, an old man; I will not obey the counsel of any one! No one shall govern me! I am old. My hair is gray. I once gave counsel to young men –am I to be ruled by others? I shall soon go to the Great Spirit, where I shall be at rest. I am done.”
A momentary excitement ran through the assembly. This show of spirit was not expected from one who had been so recently punished. Keokuk, in a low tone of voice said to him, “Why do you speak thus before white men? You trembled; you do not mean what you said. I will speak for you.” Black Hawk consented, and Keokuk rose. “Our brother, who has lately come back to us,” he said, “has spoken, but he spoke in anger. His tongue was forked. He did not speak like a Sac. He felt that his words were bad, and trembled like a tree whose roots have been washed by many rains. He is old. Let us forget what he has said. He wishes it forgotten. What I have said are his words not mine.”
Then Black Hawk requested to have a black line drawn over the words he had spoken in anger.
Mr. Biggs did not entertain as high an estimate of Black Hawk’s character as some did. He wrote, concerning him:
“My first and only interview with Black Hawk was at Rock Island, at the time of the treaty for the Iowa Reserve, in 1836, about one year before his death. I was introduced to him by his intimate acquaintrance and apologist. The late Jeremiah Smith, of Burlington. He asked where I resided, and being told on the Wabash River, in Indiana, he traced on the sand the principal Western rivers, showing their courses and connections, and exhibiting a general knowledge of the prominent features of the topography of the Western States.
“The interview occurred after his first visit to Washington, where he was taken by way of the Ohio River to Pittsburgh, and returned by Philadelphia, Baltimore, Albany, Buffalo, and Detroit, affording him a good opportunity to form a salutary impression of the military resources of the United States, and also to acquire a general knowledge of its geography. Its great military strength seemed to arouse his keenest observation, and furnished the main topic of his remarks upon the country as he passed through, as well as on his return to his tribe. The colloquy at this interview afforded an occasion to express his bitter reflections upon this painful theme. Mr. Smith, unfortunately for the repose of Black Hawk’s feelings, and unconscious of its effect, mentioned the writer of this sketch as a surveyor of public lands, a character always unwelcome among the Indians. This remark I much regretted, as Black Hawk’s countenance was instantly covered with gloom and he rather petulantly said: ‘The Chemokemon was strong, and would force the Indians to give up all their lands.’
“The colloquy here ended, as this barbed arrow, inadvertently thrown by Mr. Smith, had occasioned a tumult in Black Hawk’s mind that rendered further conversation on his part disagreeable. The impressions of the writer in regard to Black Hawk’s personal appearance were those of disappointment. He was attired in a coarse cloth coat, without any semblance of fit or proportion, with his feet thrust into a pair of new stoga shoes that were without strings, and a coarse wool hat awkwardly placed upon his nearly bald pate, and presenting a very uncouth and rather ludicrous personal bearing.
“This toggery, perhaps, had its share in lowering my previously-estimated claims of Black Hawk to distinction among the celebrated men of his race. ‘The fine head, Roman style of face and prepossessing countenance,’ that so favorably impressed the distinguished author of the ‘Sketch-Book,’ on visiting him while a prisoner in Jefferson Barracks, were no longer apparent to my dull comprehension. “It would, indeed, be difficult to find a name in history that attained so great a notoriety, associated with such limited mental endowment and true military skill. Every prominent act of his life gave evidence of the lack of sound discretion and prudent forethought. We find him as early as 1804 visiting the Spanish Governor at St. Louis, at the time the United States Agents called to accept the transfer of the authority of the country. Black Hawk being informed of the purpose of their visit, refused to meet these agents of the new government, he passing out at one door as they entered at the other, and embarking with his suite in their canoes and hastening away to Rock Island, saying he liked his Spanish father best. This was a mere whim, as he had, as yet, no acquaintance with the Government and people of the United States. He, however, at once determined on hostility to both; and this ill-advised and hasty determination was his ruling passion while he lived. “Lieut. Pike, on behalf of the Government, made him a friendly visit to Rock Island, the following year, and, as a token of friendship, presented Black Hawk with an American Flag, which he refused to accept. He embraced the first opportunity that offered to form an alliance with the British authorities in Canada, and eagerly attached himself and 500 warriors of his tribe to the British standard, at the commencement of the war of 1812. Here, his lack of capacity to command an army where true courage and enduring fortitude were requisite to success, was fully demonstrated. His warlike talents had hitherto been only tested in stealthy and sudden onslaughts on unprepared and defenseless foes; and, if successful, a few scalps were the laurels he coveted, and he retired, exulting in a plunder of a village and these savage trophies. His campaign against the Osages and other neighboring tribes, lasted only long enough to make one effort, and afforded no evidence of the fortitude and patient skill of the able military leader. His conduct under the British flag as ‘Gen. Black Hawk’ showed him entirely wanting in the capacity to deserve that title. He followed the English army to Fort Stephenson, in expectation of an easy slaughter and pillage; but the signal repulse the combined forces still met by the gallant Col. Croghan, completely disheartened him, and he slipped away with about twenty of his followers to his village on Rock River, leaving his army to take care of themselves.
“He entertained no just conception of the obligation of treaties made between our Government and his tribe, and even the separate treaty by himself and his ‘British Band,’ in 1816, was no check on his caprice and stolid self-will, and its open violation brought on the war of 1832, which resulted in his complete overthrow, and ended forever his career as a warrior.
“The history of his tour through the United States as a prisoner, is a severe reflection upon the intelligence of the people of our Eastern cities, in regard to the respect due to a savage leader who had spent a long life in butchering his own race, and the frontier inhabitants of their own race and country. His journey was, everywhere throughout the East, an ovation, falling but little short of the respect and high consideration shown to the nation’s great benefactor, La Fayette, whose triumphal tour through the United States happened near the same period. But as an offset to this riduculous adulation in the East, when the escort reached Detroit, where his proper estimate was understood, Black Hawk and his suite were contemptuously burned in effigy. But due allowance should be made for the ignorance concerning true Indian character, among the Eastern people, as their conceptions are formed from the fanciful creations of the Coopers and Longfellows, immensely above the sphere of blood-thirsty War Eagles, and the filthy, paint-bedaubed Hiawathas of real savage life.”
Maj. Beach relates the following incident derived from personal observation: “Black Hawk’s lodge was always the perfection of cleanliness-a quite unusual thing for an Indian. The writer has seen the old woman busily at work with her broom by time of sunrise, sweeping down the little ant-hills in the yard that had been thrown up during the night. As the chiefs of the nation seemed to pay him but little attention in the waning years of his life, Gen. Street, the Agent, looked out for his comfort more carefully than otherwise he would have thought it needful to do, and, among other things, gave him a cow-an appendage to an Indian’s domestic establishment hitherto unheard of. The old squaw and daughter were instructed in the art of milking her, and she was held among them in almost as great reverence as the sacred ox Apis was held among the ancient Egyptians.
“This was in the summer of 1838, when the Agency was in process of erection, and Black Hawk had established his lodge on the banks of the Des Moines, about three miles below Eldon. Close by was the trading-house of Wharton McPherson, with whom the writer stayed one night in August of said year (1838), and, as he rode past the lodge, Mme. Black Hawk was complacently sitting upon a log by the side of her cow, under a heavily-branched tree, industriously brushing the flies and mosquitoes from the bovine, with a rag tied to the end of a stick. Mr. McPherson said this was her daily occupation, in fly-time, often following the animal around as it grazed at a distance. This was the last occasion that ever the writer had an interview with Black Hawk, as he died within two months of that time (September 18, 1838), and was even then so infirm that he could barely move about his wigwam.”

THE DEATH OF BLACK HAWK.
The brave old Indian passed the last of his declining years in the immediate companionship of James Jordan, near Iowaville. He made occasional visits to Fort Madison and other towns, and even as late as the summer of 1838, but a short time prior to his death, he was in Fort Madison. He called upon Mr. Edwards, editor of the Patriot, who was an admirer of the Indian, and while there, the question of the brave’s age came up. Mr. J. M. Broadwell, then an employe in the office, remembers that Black Hawk counted on his fingers the number sixty-three, thus corroborating the statement made by Mr. Jordan concerning the Indian’s birth.
The birth of Black Hawk is not the only disputed date in his eventful career, for the ending as well as the beginning has been variously stated. We are glad to be able to give a correct account of the death, burial and final disposition of the old warrior. The best authority on this subject is Mr. Jordan. From him the following statement was obtained:
On the 1st day of September, 1838, Mu-ca-tah-mish-a-ka-kah sickened with fever. The old brave requested Mr. Jordan to send to Fort Edward (now Warsaw) for Dr. Peel. A letter was duly dispatched, in which the Doctor was promised the sum of $300 if he would attend the summons. The message was slow in going, and before a response could be made the soul of the brave old Indian had passed to the happy hunting-ground.
Black Hawk died September 15, 1838 (not October 1st, as has been frequently stated), and was between sixty-three and sixty-four years of age at the time of his decease. The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he used to say just before his death, that he was sixty-three fingers and a part of a finger (meaning a year for each finger held up). Before he died, he requested Mr. Jordan to observe certain ceremonies in his burial. His body was to be clothed in full uniform, a suit of military clothes presented him by Gen. Jackson, or by some high official in the administration, upon which were a pair of epaulets valued at $500. Three medals, which had been given him by the British, the French and the American Governments, respectively, and valued in the aggregate at $1,200, were to be placed upon his breast. He was to by buried in a sitting posture, with his feet place in a hole a few inched deep, and his body held in position by a board at his back. About his corpse was erected a frail tomb made of wooden slabs set upon the ground in the form of an inverted V. His war-club—a shaved post four or five feet high-was placed in the front of his rude tomb, upon which a great number of black stripes were painted, corresponding with the number of scalps he had taken during life. Openings were left in his tomb so that his friends and curious visitors would witness the process of decay. The locality was designated by Black Hawk himself, as the site of his last friendly council with the Iowa Indians. This point was upon Mr. Jordan’s farm, on Section 2, Township 70 north, Range 12 west.
The injunction was faithfully carried out. The body was dressed as the Brave had directed, and blankets and gloves were added. Some time later, Mrs. Black Hawk came to Mr. Jordan with the alarming story that her husband’s head had been stolen. Upon investigating the sepulcher, it was found that the head had dropped over from its own weight. Mr. Jordan replaced the member and repaired the tomb.
The alarm thus given was not entirely groundless, however, for on the 3rd of July, 1839, Dr. Turner, of Van Buren County, stole the body and made off with it. It was taken to Quincy, Ill., and there the bones were cleaned by a professional anatomist. The accounts differ as to the place where the bones were cleaned; one being given as above, and another that it was St. Louis first and then Quincy; but Quincy was probably the scene of that deed. The bones were not “wired,” but merely polished and varnished.
When the family of Black Hawk learned of the robbery, they were uncontrollable in their grief and anger. Nasheaskuk, the son, and Hardfish, the subchief who had succeeded to the leadership of Black Hawk’s band, came to Burlington, with about fifty braves, and made formal complaint to Gov. Lucas about the desecration of the grave. The Governor assured Nasheaskuk that the laws of the land made the stealing of a body a penal offense, and that everything should be done that was possible to secure the return of the remains. The council was satisfactory to the Indians, and lasted two days, being the 23rd and 24th of January, 1840. the ceremonies finally ended with a grand dance and powwow in old Zion Church, with Governor as master of festivities. Such a record is ludicrous now; but there was no alternative but to take possession of the numerously-employed edifice on such occasions.
The following summer and fall were consumed in a search after the missing bones, and not until the winter succeeding were they discovered.
The Hawk-Eye, of December 10, 1840, contains the following item: “The bones of Black Hawk, which were stolen from the grave about a year since, have been recovered and are now in the Governor’s office. The wampum, hat, etc., which were buried with the old chief” [the editor evidently regarded Black Hawk as a chief, through misunderstanding of his position.—ED.] “have been returned with the bones. It appears that they were taken to St. Louis and there cleaned; that they were sent to Quincy, Ill., to a dentist, to be put up and wired, previous to being sent to the East. The dentist was cautioned not to deliver them to any one until a requisition should be made by Gov. Lucas. The Governor made the necessary order, and the bones were sent up, a few days since, by the Mayor of Quincy, and are now in the possession of the Governor. He had sent word to Nasheaskuk, Black Hawk’s son, or to the family, and some of them will probably call for them in a few days. Mr. Edgerton, the phrenologist, has taken an exact drawing of the skull, which looks very natural, and has also engraved it on a reduced scale, which picture will shortly appear on his chart. Destructiveness, combativeness, firmness and philoprogenitiveness, are, phrenologically speaking, very strongly developed.”
Thus it is shown that Black Hawk died in September, 1838; his body was stolen in July, 1839; his tribe made complaint to Gov. Lucas in January, 1840, and in December of that year, the bones were recovered and brought to Burlington.
The remains were packed in a small box and placed in the governor’s office. A message was sent to the bereaved family, then staying on the Des Moines, some ninety miles distant. A cavalcade was soon in motion, bearing the disconsolate widow and a retinue of her friends to Burlington. On the evening of their arrival, the Governor was notified of their readiness to wait upon him, and fixed the audience for 10 A.M. the next day. Several visitors were in attendance. The box containing the august remains opened with a lid, and when the parties were all assembled and ready for the awful development, the lid was lifted by the Governor, fully exposing the sacred relics of the renowned chief to the gaze of his sorrowing friends and the very respectable auditors who had ascended to witness the impressive scene.
The Governor them addressed the widow, through John Goodell, the interpreter of the Hardfish band, giving all the details of the transfer of the bones from the grave to Quincy and back to Burlington, and assured her that they were the veritable bones of her deceased husband; that he had sympathized deeply with her in her great affliction, and that he now hoped she would be consoled and comforted by the return of the precious relics to her care, in full confidence that they would not again be disturbed where she might chance to entomb them. The widow then advanced to the lid of the box, and, without the least seeming emotion, picked up in her fingers bone after bone, and examined each with the seeming curiosity of a child, and replacing each bone in its proper place, turned to the interpreter, and replied that she fully believed they were Black Hawk’s bones, and that she knew the Governor was a good old man, or he would not have taken the great pains he had manifested to oblige her, and, in consideration of his great benevolence and disinterested friendship, she would leave the bones under his care and protection. She saw that the skeleton ‘was in a good dry place,’ and concluded to let it remain there. Maj. Beach said that he notified the widow of the willingness of the authorities to surrender the bones, but that she seemed indifferent to the matter. At all events, nothing was done by the family to secure a re-interment of the remains.
Shortly after the scene just related transpired, Gov. Lucas was succeeded by Gov. Chambers, and the bones of Black Hawk were taken from his former office to the office of Dr. Lowe, on Main street. Drs. Lowe, Hickcock and Rock were then occupying rooms adjoining the three-story building used by A. Moore as a hardware store. A.D. Green in the second story, and the Historical and Geological Institute in the third story. The bones had been given to the latter institution, but had not been removed to a place in the third story. On the night of January 16, 1853, a fire consumed the whole building and the adjoining structure in which Dr. Lowe’s office was. The bones of the celebrated Indian were then and there cremated. Thus amid fire and tumult, Black Hawk found a final earthly resting-place in the ashes of the ruined structure, and the last act of his eventful career was not less dramatic than the first public appearance of the Brave. Literally and truthfully may we say, dust to dust, ashes to ashes; and may they rest in peace.
It has been asserted that the bones were saved from destruction by Dr. Rock, but the Doctor positively declared to judge Rorer that the rumor was an idle one.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

HISTORY INDEX

HOME PAGE

EMAIL