By Andrea Downing
 |
| Lincoln, 1846--earliest known photo of him |
In the early 1800s, there was little
sympathy for Native Americans and Lincoln could be considered a man of his
time, although a fair one. In 1832 the Illinois militia, which included all
white men over the age of eighteen, was called out due to the movement of the
Sauk and Fox peoples past the Illinois border.
The United States had previously forced them off their homelands in
Illinois, across the Mississippi River. There was a treaty, of course: the Fourth Treaty of Prairie du Chien, of
July, 1830. These Sauk lands stretched from northwestern Illinois to
southwestern Wisconsin, but the US government sought to make room for settlers
moving into that area and therefore pushed the Indians into present-day Iowa. The Native Americans faced a hard winter
there and were unable to produce crops. It fell to a warrior, Black Hawk, to
take them back across the river and try to regain their lands. Having fought on
the side of the British in the War of 1812, Black Hawk’s band were known as the
British Band and numbered four to five hundred.
Lincoln, then aged twenty-three, joined the
Illinois militia. He already had political aspirations and was known locally
for his leadership skills. It was no surprise, therefore, that the men—most of
whom were rough prairie people—elected him Captain, and he served in this
capacity for one month from late April to late May, 1832. He was in the 31st
Regiment of Sangamon County Militia, 1st Division, and put in charge of a rifle company of
the 4th Regiment of Mounted Volunteers. Lincoln remained modest about his captaincy, although he
valued the honor of being chosen. Fortunately
for future events, he never saw any action other than a wrestling match to
claim a good camping spot. Years later, in Congress in 1848, Lincoln jested about his militia days and
the lack of any fighting: “By the way, Mr. Speaker, did you know I am a
military Hero? Yes sir; in the days of the Black Hawk war, I fought, bled, and
came away.... I had a good many bloody struggles with the mosquitoes; and,
although I never fainted from loss of blood, I can truly say I was often very
hungry.” [1]
All of this is not to say Lincoln’s time in
the militia was a walk in the park. He
and his men came upon the results of the Battle of Kellogg’s Grove. Sources
quote him as saying, “I remember just how those men looked as we rode
up the little hill where their camp was. The red light of the morning sun was
streaming upon them as they lay head towards us on the ground. And every man
had a round red spot on top of his head, about as big as a dollar where the
redskins had taken his scalp. It was frightful, but it was grotesque, and the
red sunlight seemed to paint everything all over.”2
 |
| Lincoln gets between his men and a Sauk |
Despite this, Lincoln was able to save one Sauk, an old man who gave himself up at the camp showing a paper which stated in English that he was a good man. When Lincoln's men wished to kill him anyway, the Captain got between the Indian and the men and convinced them that this was not the thing civilized men would do.
Lincoln, of course, was eventually mustered
out and went on to his political career.
But what happened to Black Hawk? Needless to say, he and his men lost
the war. They were taken captive until
another worthless treaty was forced upon them, the so-called Black Hawk
Purchase or ‘Treaty with Sauk and Foxes, 1832’, which this time took six
million acres in the northeast corner of Iowa—a forty mile strip—at eleven
cents an acre. There would be two
further purchases in 1837 and 1842.
Black Hawk lived with the Sauk along the
Iowa River and later moved to the Des Moines River near Iowaville in what is
present-day south east Iowa. He passed after a short illness in 1838.
 |
| Black Hawk |
As for Abraham Lincoln, I leave that for
your research.
http://andreadowning.com
[1]
Wikimedia quotes this and gives two sources. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln_in_the_Black_Hawk_War
[2]
Again, several sources quote this as mentioned in Wiki, above.
All photos Wikimedia
Great post, Andrea! I'm speaking to you from the Land of Lincoln itself, Illinois. It's so true how we think of the west as farther west but this was the frontier not too long ago. We listened to a podcast recently about Indian and settler skirmishes just north of Chicago while we happened to be driving through said area. I had to look for the Black Hawk Wars and I see there are many sites around northern Illinois not far from a town we often go to when visiting relatives, so we'll have to check it out. Didn't know that about Lincoln, by the way.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your 'local's' view, Patti. I think there is a statue of Black Hawk somewhere or other but can't quite remember, in one of the places where he lived I believe. Difficult to think of Lincoln aged twenty-three! The book I was recently reading about his last court battle prior to being elected President was also an eye-opener.
ReplyDeleteInteresting part of Lincoln's life that I knew thing of. Thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, Oscar. Glad you were enlightened :-)
ReplyDeleteI grew up a bit south of the area you talk about. There are a couple of good books on the "Black Hawk" war. Also, as I mentioned elsewhere, Keokuk, Iowa is named of the chief that Black Hawk or one of his band killed. It is a rich and sad history. Doris
ReplyDeleteDoris, it's fascinating--we tend to leave the middle of the country as if westward expansion just somehow hopped over it, perhaps due to the fact the Transcontinental Railroad actually started in Council Bluffs practically in Nebraska. As authors writing about the west, we also tend to concentrate post Civil War and when Abe Lincoln was twenty-three, the nation was still incredibly young. Just my theory!
ReplyDelete