Black Hawk

Author Code: ABHK

Black Hawk had fought on the side of the British during the War of 1812. Black Hawk was a leader of a faction of the Sauk and Fox Indians in Illinois. Ordered by the US government to vacate lands adjoining the Rock River in Illinois, he defied them and precipitated the Black Hawk War of 1832. Having initial success in a defeat of the state militia, Black Hawk was forced to retreat northward until, finally, at Bad Axe River in Wisconsin most of the Indians were slaughtered by a superior military force. Black Hawk escaped but was captured and imprisoned for a time. He was returned to the Sauk and Fox leader Keokuk as a hostage in 1833. He published his autobiography in 1833, The Life of Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak.