Black Hawk and the Sac in the 1827 Winnebago War??

[Larry Koschkee]

Was Black Hawk and the Sac involved in the Winnebago War of 1827?... Frank E. Stevens, author of the book,The Black Hawk War, 1903 says it is so. His comments and quotes are found in chapter XI, pp 71-76.

After Red Bird and accomplices committed murder on some whites in the Prairie du Chien settlement two keel boats were attacked on the Mississippi River in the vicinity of the mouth of the Bad Axe river. This is where Stevens places Black Hawk.

The battle had raged for three hours with a fierceness which no Indian but Black Hawk could precipitate, and there he was, directing a cause which was none of his own, he and his British band, notwithstanding his pledges and protestations, fighting the Americans with the ferocity of a wild beast.

As this conflict occurred on the same day which saw the Gagnier family murdered by Red Bird and his companions, it is not conceivable how Red Bird could have been present. In fact, he was not, as Black Hawk admitted after his acquittal. He was the leader and he said so. Stevens goes on to say: Black Hawk was subsequently arrested for this attack, but the lack of evidence allowed him to escape an indictment. When discharged he made no secret of his participation in the affair, but prior thereto he was the most discreet Indian the imagination can portray. The only reference to the court proceedings made by the newspapers at the time is to be found in the Miner's Journal of Galena for Saturday, September 13, 1828.

Quote from the Miner's Journal article: ... There being no bills found against Kanon-e-kah, or 'The youngest of the Thunders,' and Kara-zhon-sept-kah, or 'The Black Hawk,' imprisoned for attacking and firing on the keel boat last year, nor against the son of Red Bird, they were discharged.

Evidently Stevens never made the connection with the specific Sac (Algonkian) spelling of Black Hawk... Ma-Ka-Tai-Me-She-Kai-Kiak. And it is apparent he did not realize there were more than one Black Hawk, the other was Winnebago Black Hawk, or Ke-re-ed-Ju-sep-ga or in a similiar form, Kara-yja-sip-ka. (Siouan)

This Winnebago chief had a village on the Black River and for some reason, on known to historians, was caught up in the Red Bird uprising and arrested. Winnebago Black Hawk was also discussed in the thread titled Bob's journey? Black Hawk, started by donna, under the heading Bad Axe

In his book Stevens does a poor job of supporting statements with footnotes and resorts to proselytism, blaming Black Hawk for just about every murder, loss of property, stolen rooster or Durham cow in the state of Illinois and Michigan Territory.

[pshrake]

Larry,

You raise several good points here,

I firmly believe that the Black Hawk alluded to in the Galena Papers must be the Winnebago Black Hawk. Your refrences to actual Indian names seems to solidify that fact pretty well, but there is also another consideration to think on.

The Winnebago Black Hawk was a member of a Prairie LaCrosse Band of HoChunk who were considered renegade Indians amongst the other bands of the tribe. The primary leader of the LaCrosse Band was Red Bird. Black Hawk was a notable chief of that band perhaps second to Red Bird. As I understand it, the primary village of that band was near the LaCrosse area, however Red Bird’s village was located below a bluff near the mouth of the Bad Axe river, there is a historical marker along highway 35 today noting the site. The Prairie LaCrosse Band was closely allied with their neighbors the Sioux. Waubasha a Sioux leader had a village nearby and I believe, that the Winnebago Black Hawk’s mother was a Sioux. This in itself might exclude Black Hawk from taking any active part in the Winnebago War as that the Sauk and the Sioux were not on to friendly of terms. Though other bands of the HoChunk were not so closely allied with the Sioux it seems to me as highly improbable that Black Hawk was actively involved with a band that was closely allied with an enemy.

The assertion by Stevens that it was impossible for Red Bird to have been involved in both the actual attack on Gagnier family at Prairie du Chien and on the Keel Boats has some problems as well. I have seen this argument before. The fact is that there have always been some problems trying to fix the exact dates of the attack. In my research I have found at least three different dates for the Gagnier murders, July 24, 26, and 28. There are numerous references for each date, some with very solid evidence for each date. For example the burial records for Registe Gagnier in St. Gabriel’s Church, lists his death on the 28th. I generally have picked July 26th merely because it was the middle date. My overall point here is that there is a very poor accounting among period records for exact dates. I think for those who lived on the frontier at that time, dates were more in the form of approximation rather than exactitude. This relates to Reds Birds participation in the keelboat attacks in that, we simply do not know when either attack took place, therefore it is possible for Red Bird to have been at both places.

However, saying that, I do not think that Red Bird participated in the keelboat attacks. He was goaded by the Sioux into attacking the Prairie du Chien settlement, supposedly because two HoChunk were killed by the Chippewa at Fort Snelling. The Sioux led Red Bird to believe that the army had given up the two HoChunk to their enemies. This in combination with the constant trespass by miners led Red Bird to believe that some from of revenge was needed. (this was in fact false, the Sioux lied and were using Red Bird but that is another story) After attacking the Gagnier family he left the area, he had no intention of continuing any attacks on the settlement. Once he returned to his village he made it clear that he had done his part in avenging the HoChunk nation. After a drunken spree of several days a warrior of his band had spotted the keelboats coming down the river. Inspired by Red Bird and perhaps still in a drunken reverie, the warriors of the LaCrosse band attacked the keelboats. It is quite likely that the Winnebago Black Hawk participated or perhaps led this attack. I very much do not believe that Red Bird actually participated. My gut feeling was that he remained in his village.


So in a roundabout sort of way, I would have to agree with you, the Sauk Black Hawk most likely had nothing to do with the Winnebago War of 1827. I would also go as far to state that Steven’s narrative of events along the Wisconsin frontier has some problems and must be used carefully.

A very good source of information on a number of HoChunk leaders, is a book recently published by Mark Diedrich titled HoCunk Chiefs, Winnebago Leadership in an Era of Crisis. Diedrich provides bios on nearly 20 different leaders of the tribe including the Winnebago Black Hawk.


Pete

[Robert Braun]

Larry said:

In his book Stevens does a poor job of supporting statements with footnotes and resorts to proselytism, blaming Black Hawk for just about every murder, loss of property, stolen rooster or Durham cow in the state of Illinois and Michigan Territory.

I am leaving commentary on the 1827 Red Bird rising to Pete. He is definately the expert when it comes to this episode!

However, I will comment by agreeing with Larry regarding Stevens' stretching his points to large extremes when it comes to discussions regarding native people, and Black Hawk in particular. Stevens' prose too often appears to reflect the postions, beliefs, and biases of the several veterans and veteran familes he interviewed for his book.

I likewise agree that Steven's footnotes are nearly worthless... as he uses them for annotation rather than citation.

On the other hand, Stevens does provide very interesting information gleaned from his material and interview sources-- information either difficult to access or found literally nowhere else. If one keeps Steven's biased sources in mind, his work remains a useful reference tool.

[Larry Koschkee]

Regarding Steven's work The Black Hawk War he listed Brown's History of Illinoisas a source in some footnotes. Has anybody on this board accessed that book and if so can you recommend a location?

Pete, you make an excellent point about the Black Hawk and Sac's hostile relations with Sioux and the Sioux's close assocation with the Prairie La Crosse band of Winnebago, therefore precluding his participation on the keel boat attacks in concert with the Winnebago.

Also I agree with your analysis on the conflicting dates of the Prairie du Chien murders, although if I were pinned down I would concede to the St Gabriel church records of the 28th.

Where we part company in this thread is the suggestion that Red Bird did not participate in the attack on the keel boats. I understand that this is your gut feeling... Reasonable people can differ on this point.

My point is that after the murders Red Bird returned to his village and carried on a lot of chest pounding to increase his stature within the band and followed through with that by participating in the keel boat attack. Having said that, we have no specific evidence to support either of our comments though.

On the Winnebago 1827 fracus or "Fuss" there are many lingering questions out there for me.

1) Was the One-Eyed Decorah implicated in the keel boat attacks at the mouth of the Bad Axe? Winnebago Black Hawk and he had their lodges seperate from each other on the Prairie la Crosse. One-Eyed Decorah at the mouth of the Black River and WBH on the Prairie la Crosse River. Collectively they were considered the Prairie la Crosse Band.

2) After the Prairie du Chien murders, why wasn't there a military force sent to Red Bird's village and or to the Prairie la Crosse? Did the military have knowledge that Red Bird had fled the scene for unknown parts in the wilderness?

3) When and where was Winnebago Black Hawk arrested, or did he turn himself in.

4) I have one source that says Red Bird and followers fled from his Bad Axe village to the southeast towards the Wisconsin River which was the same route Black Hawk's band used on fleeing to cross the Mississippi River. Your thoughts on that...

5) Why did Atkinson and Dodge focus their marches on the Wisconsin River and south? Did they have intelligence that Red Bird was in that region or we they simply showing force and strength to the Winnebago located there?

6) What are the reasons why Red Bird chose to surrender at Fort Winnebago Indian Agency instead of his agency at Fort Crawford?

7) What are some of the factors that gave Red Bird and perpretators the confidence to commit the murders at Prairie du Chien in the first place?

[pshrake]

Hi Larry,
I agree that reasonable people can differ. We can agree to disagree on Red Birds actual involvement in the Keel Boat attack. In the end, due to lack of direct evidence, simply put, we both could be right or both could be wrong on that point.

You also ask a lot of very interesting questions, some of which require lengthy answers, so I will tackle them in a series of posts.

1. One Eyed Decorah was certainly a member of the Prairie LaCrosse Band, but I have not found any evidence to date linking him in any of the actions of the Red Bird War. In fact I would say he is conspicuously absent from the record all together. His brother Waukon Decorah, however, was involved in several incidents surrounding the 1827 uprising. As a leading orator of the band he was involved in the events surrounding the Methode murders of 1826 and was also a part of the delegation that visited Washington D.C. in 1828, a trip that was a direct result of Red Bird’s attacks and led to significant land cessions by the tribe as a whole in 1829

Pete.

[pshrake]

Question 2. Your questions 2, 5, and 6 are somewhat linked so I will deal with them together.

I believe that the general military strategy had much to do with Lewis Cass and the Council at Lake Buttes Des Morts. Cass had arrived at Green Bay just after the attacks had taken place. The day he landed he received word of the murders and embarked immediately on a whirlwind circular journey through the Wisconsin, going as far as St. Louis and returning through Illinois, to find out for himself what was going on, to calm the inhabitants, and to take initial steps at establishing defensive measures.

From the onset Cass was worried that the events in Prairie du Chien were the beginnings of a general Indian war not only with all the HoChunk but possibly with the Pottawatomie, as well. The movements of the army reflected this concern. It also had something to do with the location and outcome of the council at Buttes Des Morts. The army was mobilized when Lewis Cass arrived in St Louis and after he conferred with William Clark and with General Atkinson. Atkinson’s initial plan was to move his force up the Mississippi to the Prairie and wait until the outcome of the council.

The council is an integral part of the story of the uprising, a part that is almost completely excluded in any detail by most historians of the event. The Council was originally held as an extension of the Treaty of 1825, and as so, the main leaders of the Menominee, Chippewa, Pottawatomie, and HoChunk were in attendance. The Council was used directly by Lewis Cass to wage some very shrewd psychological warfare on the HoChunk Chiefs. Every time he received a report on the movements of Atkinson’s army he stopped any negotiations he was in, turned to face the HoChunk Chefs and read the reports to them. Informing them of the progress of the invading army as it moved slowly and steadily into the heart of their territory. The intention was to break any desire to resist and to get the head chiefs of the tribe to force Red Bird, and his accomplices into surrender.

At the Council, the chiefs of the tribe agreed to do what they could in bringing in Red Bird. Frankly I am unsure as to just why Red Bird surrendered at the Portage. I think, the close proximity to the council site, and that Atkinson and companies under Major Whistler (the guard who had accompanied Cass to Buttes des Morts) were already deep into Hochunk Territory had much to do with it. I think it also had something to do with where Red Bird was at the time of the council. Although, I must confess I have not found any real evidence that provides any real reason as to why the portage was chosen.

As for the reasons why Red Birds Village was not attacked, initially there was no effort to attack his village because there were no troops immediately on hand to attack with. In 1826 the entire garrison of Fort Crawford was removed to Fort Snelling leaving the Prairie completely defenseless outside of the local militia. The inhabitants of the village were thrown into a complete state of panic as a result of the attacks and nearly from the onset all sense of order and control had nearly vanished. It was only with the arrival of Lewis Cass a few days later that the local populace was organized into a militia for local defense. As it was there was the village militia was in no condition to mount any offensive operations.

Where I am at a loss is that just prior to the arrival of Atkinson’s army, 4 companies of regulars arrived under Colonel Snelling from St. Peters. I do not know why they did not make a stop at Red Bird’s village on their way down, or for that matter after they had landed at the Prairie. The best I can come up with is that Snelling’s mission was to insure the defense of the Prairie and not to take on any offensive operations. Cass had made it clear in numerous letters that, though he was fearful of a general Indian war, there was still the possibility of preventing such a war from occurring. To that end he tried to separate the LaCrosse Band politically from other bands and other tribes. There was a general desire to avoid bringing on an open conflict. An attack on Red Birds village might have been enough to convince other HoChunk bands or possibly event other tribes from joining Red Bird. So no attack was made.

Atkinson’s report does not highlight any of this and to date I have not found a copy of Snelling’s report, if a copy still exists. I would also very much like to find a copy of Major Whistler’s report. As he was the officer to which Red Bird surrendered himself to, his would be a very fascinating first hand account! But like with Snelling’s report, I have yet to find a copy.

I hope this provides some answers. In a later post I will answer your other questions.

Pete

[pshrake]

Hi Larry,

I forgot to mention, in my last post.

In your question # 6 you ask why Red Bird surrendered at the Fort Winnebago Agency, just a quick correction. There was actually no agency at the Portage at that time. The Winnebago Agency, like fort Winnebago itself was established right after and as a direct result of the uprising. One of the prime reasons for the choice of locating both the fort and the agency at the portage was that it was considered in the heart of Hochunk territory.

Pete

[pshrake]

Question 3
I believe Colonel Snelling at Prairie du Chien arrested the Winnebago Black Hawk in late July 1827. He was held in the guardhouse at Fort Crawford and eventually was confined with Red Bird and several others of the tribe.

Eventually seven warriors were brought to trial a year later in September of 1828. Red Bird of course was dead by then, having died, most likely of severe dysentery the previous February. Right away there was a major problem for the prosecution in that many of the witnesses were HoChunk and refused to testify against other members of their tribe. By the end of September charges were dropped against 5 of the seven defendants including the Winnebago Black Hawk.

Details of the trial are difficult to come by. I have found copies of the bills of indictments and some trial transcripts but all in all the records of the Gagnier murder trial is sketchy.


Question 4
I was unaware of the routes that Red Bird used when he fled the Mississippi region. I would very much love to know what source you have on this! From what I know, His route would make some sense if he were heading toward the Rock River bands. The Rock River HoChunk was the only faction of the tribe that was remotely sympathetic to Red Bird. Most of not all of the other leaders of the tribe denounced him and his actions. If he were on the run it really was the only place within his tribe where he could go.


Pete

[pshrake]

Question 6
In a nutshell this is, what I believe to be, the prime reasons for the outbreak. However, this is really a boiled down version.

The origins of the Red Bird War can to some degree be traced back to the end of the War of 1812. The HoChunk were active participants in that war from its very inception. In fact they led some of the initial attacks against Harrison’s encampment at the battle of Tippecanoe. At the end of the War the tribe felt betrayed by the British. They felt that their allies abandoned them. The tribe also came out of the war with a lingering resentment against the United States and a certain feeling of invincibility which came from the their fairly successful record in the war.

After the War of 1812 the tribe continued to be a very strong and noticeably fierce even against U.S. troops. There is a documented incident in 1820 where a barge carrying U.S. troops up the Fox River was fired upon as they passed a HoChunk village. When the officer demanded their reason for firing on the U.S. flag the chiefs replied that they had not paid the necessary toll fare required if they wished to pass their village.

This is the prevailing attitude of generally the entire tribe as the 1820s progressed. Now as we all know, beginning in 1819 or so, there was the discovery of the vast lead deposits along the fever river. This led to the great lead boom of the 1820s. The boom brought a large number of miners into the territory and before long there was the inevitable trespass of miners onto HoChunk lands. This of course did not mix too well with the proud and fierce disposition of the HoChunk tribe.

The other factor leading up to the Gagnier murders revolves around a general misunderstanding of events around Fort Snelling and the misleading efforts of the Sioux. In 1827 two Sioux warriors who had been drinking near the fort stormed through a neighboring Chippewa encampment and shot up quite a few unarmed and in some cases sleeping Indians. Quite a few Chippewa were seriously wounded, maimed, or outright killed. Colonel Snelling arrested several Sioux for their involvement in the incident but in the end he turned over two Sioux warriors to the Chippewa who were positively identified as partaking in the assault. The Chippewa immediately on the spot shot down the two warriors.

This as one can imagine had a very negative affect on the Sioux tribe who already harbored a general dislike for the Chippewa. However, now they considered the Americans at Fort Snelling as much to blame for the deaths of their two warriors. They wanted revenge, but they did not want to get into too much trouble with the Americans.
They came up with the idea of making their neighbors the Hokum the instrument of revenge. Sioux leaders visiting Red Bird’s village used bullying tactics to coerce Red Bird into attacking Prairie du Chien. The Sioux chiefs knew that Red Bird had recently returned from an unsuccessful war raid on their mutual enemy the Chippewa. They told the LaCrosse Band about the murder of the two warriors at Fort Snelling but switched the story around by stating the two warriors who were killed were members of the HoChunk tribe. They insisted that the HoChunk ought to seek revenge for this crime.

Red Bird at first was very much against any retaliation but the Sioux shamed the chief making him think that he was the laughing stock of his whole tribe. His failure against the Chippewa, the constant trespass by the miners, and the murders at Fort Snelling required that revenge must be had. Any chief who refused to attack the Americans in the light of such transgressions was a “coward.”

So Red Bird, shamed by the Sioux, determined to attack several Americans living at nearby Prairie du Chien. Several accounts support the idea that the chief and his followers acquired some whiskey along their journey to the settlement so their shame and anger were whipped into frenzy by alcohol.

So in a nutshell, lingering resentment left over from the War of 1812 mixed with frustration over trespassing lead miners commingled with the manipulations of the Sioux all boiled together to create an environment that led to the uprising in 1827. It’s a relatively simplified version of the story, but all in all, I believe that is why Red Bird attacked Prairie du Chien.

Pete

[Larry Koschkee]

Pete... a couple of things here... first of all, great material you have posted on this thread. It really shows that you have been trying to get close to the Red Bird uprising.

Second... I have two remaining question... Do you have knowledge of where Snelling arrested Winnebago Black Hawk and under what circumstances was he arrested?... Did he surrender willingly or was there resistance??

Here is the source on the Red Bird and Black Hawk route between the Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers through the "Ocooch Mountains."

John A. Wakefield, Wakefield: History of the Black Hawk War, 1834, Calvin Goudy Press, Jacksonville, IL, pp. 124-125

July 30th... We went on, that day, with considerable celerity, until about one o'clock, at which time some of our front scouts caught an Indian, who, upon examination, turned out to be a Winnebago. We here stopped and let our horses graze, while the Indian was undergoing an examination...

There was another old fellow, taken as a prisoner, who was suffrered to go away. He went to where the Winnebagoes had a small village. Three more of the children of these wild and dreary looking mountains came to us, after we had stopped to encamp. They came with a sort of white flag, which they carried on a stick. Mr. Chiler Armstrong, a gentleman belonging to General Dodge's corps, was the only one that could talk with them in their language. The indians were examined respecting the country, but could not tell us any thing about it. THEY STATED THAT THEY NEVER KNEW OF ANY PERSON TO CROSS THESE MOUNTAINS BUT ONCE; THAT WAS IN THE YEAR 1827, WHEN THE WINNEBAGOES ATTACKED CAPTAIN LINDSEY'S KEEL BOATS; the same Captain Lindsey who then commanded a company of spies belonging to Major Ewing's battalion; WHO, AFTER THEIR ATTACK UPON THE KEEL BOATS, MADE THEIR RETREAT ACROSS THESE MOUNTAINS. WE FOUND THE SACS WERE KEEPING THE SAME TRAIL THE WINNEBAG0ES THEN MADE.

Larry K.

[pshrake]

Hi Larry,

Thanks for the kind words,

That some great information on Red Birds retreat through the Ocooch mountains!

As for the arrest of the Winnebago Black Hawk, my source is Mark Diedirich's HoChunk Chiefs: Winnebago leadership in Crisis. Diedrich has a nice bio sketch on the chief and does mention his arrest by Snelling around Praire du Chien in july. Diedrich's work is a very scholarly effort and he does cite his sources. I have copies of several of the letters he reffers to on this point and I am now looking through them. He also however referrs to an unpublished 1924 manuscript in the posession of the Chicago Historical Society which I have not seen.

All in all, however, I am afraid I do not know more about it than what Diedrich says. Perhaps if Snelling's report is found our if any correspondance by him turns up that might pin point it a bit more.

Pete