Dissolving Myths & Legends:: Rivalries, Allies, Histories & Cultures that Shaped the Black Hawk War

Symposium papers from the November 2, 2019 event: Dissolving Myths & Legends: Rivalries, Allies, Histories & Cultures that Shaped the Black Hawk WarThe Black Hawk War was brief but bloody war from April to August 1832 between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a 65-year-old Sauk warrior who in early April led some 1,000 Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo men, women, and children, including about 500 warriors, across the Mississippi River to reclaim land in Illinois that tribal spokesmen had surrendered to the U.S. in 1804. The band’s crossing back into Illinois spurred fear and anger among white settlers, and eventually a force of some 7,000 mobilized against them—including members of the U.S. Army, state militias, and warriors from various other Indian peoples. Some 450–600 Indians and 70 soldiers and settlers were killed during the war.Papers document the following symposium presentations: Patrick Jung, Ph.D. “The Path to Glory is Rough” :The Causes and Course of the Black Hawk War, 1804-1832; Libby Tronnes, Ph.D. "Protectors of the Corn Moon": How the Rock River Ho-Chunks Hid 1,200 Fugitive Indians and Mired U.S. Troops during the 1832 Black Hawk War; Kerry Trask, Ph.D. "The Center Cannot Hold", The Collapse of Sauk Society and the Black Hawk War.