In 1804, the clock began to tick for the Sauk and Fox tribes of southern Wisconsin and western Illinois.
That year, their chiefs signed a treaty ceding their lands in exchange for $1,000 per year in goods and the use of the land until the government sold it to settlers. Tribal councils had not authorized the sale, and the chiefs soon regretted it, but kept the bargain.
But throughout the years, most of the signers died. Terms and boundaries became unclear to the new chiefs. Debts to traders swallowed the small annuities paid to the tribe, even as settlers and rival Sioux began to squeeze Sauk hunting grounds.
Then, in 1829, the U.S. Land Office sold the land around the main Sauk village of Saukenuk, where the Illinois town of Rock Island now stands.
One aging Sauk chief refused to leave the lands of his ancestors. Black Hawk was a brilliant warrior but a gullible and unsophisticated leader. Still, he was a magnet for the disaffected — whom, three years later, he would lead into a “war” whose romance enhanced the political fortunes of future presidents and governors but eventually was recognized for the tawdry debacle it was.
In the 1880s, a young country doctor in southwest Wisconsin began studying the Black Hawk War, talking to witnesses, identifying skirmish sites and cataloging artifacts strewn around the bucolic landscape in which he lived. For here, 28 years of tension and misunderstanding reached a nadir.
In 1832, on the strength of promises of help from other tribes and the British, Black Hawk had led more than 1,000 followers back to their homelands; by the time he found out the promises were false, a military force of soldiers and volunteers, including a young private named Abraham Lincoln, had mobilized.
Belligerent politicians and newspaper editors called for scalps. Black Hawk fled north and tried to surrender, but overexcited volunteers attacked his scouts. Undisciplined volunteers (Lincoln left earlier, and later ridiculed other enlistees’ claims to fame) killed others.
By the time Black Hawk’s band entered Wisconsin, it was starving; by the time it reached Vernon County, its path was marked by corpses.
This is where Dr. C.V. Porter picked up what is now known as the Black Hawk Trail. Unlike many of his era, he was sympathetic to the Indians, and in 1930 he made a series of roadside markers, recording the story of each site by pushing newspaper headline type into fine concrete.
But years later, Porter’s markers slid into ditches and became surrounded by cornfields. In 1993, the Vernon County Historical Society restored them and erected shelters and explanatory plaques; for the dedication, descendants of Black Hawk traveled from Oklahoma, where the tribe ended up. Today, it’s possible, with the help of a society guide, to follow Black Hawk’s flight to the Mississippi.
A friend and I started out one sunny September afternoon near the tiny burg of Rising Sun, where the band camped in a ravine July 31, 1832, followed by the militia the next nights.
Hilly terrain helped Black Hawk throw off the militia in an effort to buy time to build rafts and escape across the Mississippi. He sent 20 decoys, most of whom, according to Marker 5, were shot when they tried to surrender. It presaged the slaughter to come: On Aug. 1, the remainder of Black Hawk’s band arrived at the Mississippi.
Suddenly, the armed steamboat Warrior appeared. Under a white flag of truce, the Sauks approached it to surrender and were greeted by a hail of lead. Black Hawk and a few followers headed north, but the rest of the band elected to try to cross the river. The next day was the real bloodbath: Routed from wooded islands by the Warrior’s cannons, most of the band, including women and children, were shot or drowned. Sioux sent by the whites caught up with those who had escaped and brought back 68 scalps; Menominee and Winnebagos hunted others.
The battle site now is part of Black Hawk Recreation Area, which includes campsites, a pavilion and playground on the river flats north of De Soto. Black Hawk later was caught by Winnebagos and turned over to Col. Zachary Taylor and a guard named Jefferson Davis.
DETAILS ON THE BLACK HAWK AREA
Getting there: Vernon County, Wis., is about a 5- to 6-hour drive from Chicago. There are several ways to get there, but the most scenic route is driving to Galena (on Interstate Highway 90 and U.S. Highway 20), then taking the Great River Road (various highways).
Accommodations: The picturesque Iowa town of Lansing, just across the Mississippi River and 3 miles south of De Soto, has two fine B&Bs: Suzanne’s Inn (319-538-3040), with four rooms, $60-$75, in a newly restored 1865 Victorian; and FitzGerald’s Inn (319-538-4872 or 319-538-4711), with five rooms, $65-$75, in an 1863 Victorian.
Viroqua, Wis., is close to the trail and the rest of the county’s attractions; the Viroqua Heritage Inn (608-637-3306) and the Eckhart House Bed and Breakfast (608-637-8644) are two 1890s Victorians with eight rooms, $55-$85.
Dining: Great River Roadhouse (608-645-2045) outside De Soto is a good place to enjoy a pizza and watch the sunset; Das Victory Haus in Victory serves good German food.
Nearby attractions: The Snowflake Ski-Jumping Tournament, which attracts jumpers from all over the world, will be held outside the Norwegian town of Westby, Wis., Feb. 7-8.
Information: For a Black Hawk Trail brochure, a Hidden Valleys visitors guide and details on other activities, call Viroqua Partners at 608-637-2575.
