Black Hawk: Saux Warrior

Black Hawk: Saux Warrior. Black Hawk, famous Sauk warrior, was born in 1767 at the Sauk town of Saukenuk on the Rock River, located about one mile west of this spot. Black Hawk was not a chief. He was a warrior and leader of a political faction within the Sauk nation. Black Hawk was thirteen years old when American forces destroyed Saukenuk during the American Revolutionary War. Throughout his adult life he militarily opposed American expansion into Sauk territory. During the War of 18 12 Black Hawk and other Sauk warriors fought on the side of the British and against the Americans. Known as the British Band, these warriors twice defeated American forces in this area: at the Battle of Campbell's Island in July 1814 and at the Battle of Credit Island in September 1814. The British ultimately were defeated; yet, Black Hawk maintained his political allegiance to them for nearly the rest of his life., In 1829 the American government demanded that the Sauk abandon the town of Saukenuk and move to the west side of the Mississippi River. Black Hawk was the leader of the large group of Sauk who refused to move. In 1831 they were driven out of Saukenuk by American troops. Black Hawk and his followers returned to Illinois in April 1832 which resulted in the conflict known as the Black Hawk “War.” Black Hawk died at the age of 71 on October 3, 1838 of a respiratory illness.