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August 2, 1832

Discussion in '"Today in History", Literature & Media Review' started by Martin Antonenko, Aug 2, 2022.

  1. Martin Antonenko A Fixture

    Country:
    Germany
    The last "Indian War" east of the Mississippi


    In 1804, the governor of the US Indiana Territory, General William Henry Harrison...

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    ... in St. Louis made a treaty with the Sauk and Fox Native Americans in which they "sold" their lands east of the Mississippi.

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    However, the indigenous people managed to negotiate the following clause into the contract:

    They should be allowed to stay on their land as long as it is owned by the US federal government.

    In "consideration" they received $2,234.50 in goods and an annual payment of $1,000. These numbers aren't missing a few zeros, they're the original sums!

    In 1809 this area became part of the Illinois Territory, which became the State of Illinois in 1818. Then, in the late 1820s, the American government decided to move all Indians from Illinois to make way for settlers.

    The Indian agent, Major Thomas Forsyth...

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    ...informed the Sauk in May 1828 that they had to move to the west side of the Mississippi.

    He referred to the treaty of 1804. The Sauk chiefs denied that they had ever ceded land, which was quite true, for the said "treaty" was far from being signed with all of them.

    However, the chiefs were not idiots: they knew the number of whites and the goodness of their weapons, and the view prevailed that they had nothing to oppose the whites.

    So in the fall of 1829, they crossed the Mississippi to present-day Iowa and vowed never to return. On July 15, 1830, a new treaty was signed at Prairie du Chien.

    Chief Makataimeshekiakiak (Black Hawk)...

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    ...but returned with some men in the spring of the following years. Many settlers left their new homes out of fear. Black Hawk invoked the contract; since all the land had not yet been sold by the US government to new settlers, it was his right to be here.

    Illinois Governor John Reynolds...

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    ...considered this an "invasion" and called a militia to drive the Indians "dead or alive" across the Mississippi. General Edmund Pendleton Gaines...

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    ...thereupon promised troop aid if the talks with Black Hawk should be unsuccessful.

    Gaines met with Sauk chiefs east of the Mississippi in June 1831. Most said they would return. Black Hawk enlisted help from neighboring Kickapoo, Winnebago and others. However, when the troops received militia reinforcements, Black Hawk relented on June 30, 1831, and returned west.

    By the way: One of the militiamen was a captain named Abraham Lincoln!

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    A little later, the Winnebago prophet invited Wabokieshie (White Cloud)...

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    ...the Sauk entered his homeland, which was close to the ancient homeland of the Sauk.

    On April 6, 1832, Black Hawk peacefully crossed the Mississippi with 400 men and their families. But when one of his emissaries was gunned down by a white man, Black Hawk swore revenge.

    On August 1st and 2nd, 1832, his force of volunteers under General Atkinson were defeated at the Bad Ax River....:

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    By the way, Captain Lincoln was there too!

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    On August 27th, Black Hawk surrendered and was taken prisoner...:

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    In August 1833, Black Hawk was released.

    Incidentally, the natives don't call the battles on the Bad Ax River "battle" but "massacre", which is probably a lot more apt.

    Black Hawk County in Iowa is named after the Sauk chief today, where a monument was erected to him - which, in view of the circumstances depicted here, can only be regarded as a chilling joke!

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    On September 21, 1832, the Sauk "voluntarily" ceded their lands in Illinois for $640,000. Although Chief Black Hawk was not involved, this act became known as the "Black Hawk Purchase". The overwritten land was also called Black Hawk Purchase.

    That was it, the last "Indian War" that the white land robbers had to wage east of the Mississippi.

    Countless others followed - west of Mississippi - all of which took a similar course to the one shown here...

  2. Nap Moderator

    Country:
    England
    Again the indigenous people getting the bad deal , driven out and suffering all the way

    Cheers

    Nap
    Martin Antonenko likes this.

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