Black Hawk was born in 1767 to Pyera, the chief of the Sauk people. Black Hawk, who was a member of the warrior class, was antagonistic to the whites occupying his ancestral home and fought hard to preserve the territory and his peoples’ cultures. He fought alongside the British in the 1812 war but ended up being captured later in 1832 as he lead the Sauks to resist the extending white settlers encroachment.
Black Hawk legacy in war began when he was only 15 years old. He had spent his early childhood in Mississippi Island where he played a lot but learning hunting skills. When he was 15 years old, Black Hawk found himself encroached in a battle where he managed to wound his first enemy. This earned him a lot of praise and right to join the warrior community- he was allowed to wear feathers and paint his face. Black hawk first went into the battlefield still at 15. His people had been requested by the Muscow tribe for reinforcement in war, against the Osages a common enemy to the two tribes. Black Hawk had already proved himself worth and was let into the battle where he was even put in charge of a seven-warrior team. The enemy proved to be a big one but Black Hawk won more praises by not losing any of his men though they only killed one enemy. By and by Black Hawk was put in charge of lager teams against the Osages a battle that was finally worn when he was 19 years old and his people agreed to settle on their own land.
However, only a short time after the victory against the Osages, the Sauks crashed with the Cherokee tribe, a war in which they lost so many of their people including Pyre, which meant that Pyre became the chief and would be in charge of welfare. His first test as the chief came from Osages insurgents but in that confrontation he only gave orders that the Osages be driven away with no one being killed since he noticed they were weaker. During his early life as chief, the Sauks bartered for goods with the British and the Spanish until into the beginning of 19th century when the Americans moved in. In 1804, the Americans used some of Black Hawk to sign a treaty, which he had earlier refused to sign. The treaty ceded the Suakenuk territory to the United States but Black Hawk disputed the treaty. As time went by, tension was building between the new American settlers and the British and finally in 1812 the two fell out into a war in which Black Hawk sided with the British because they had experienced several mischiefs in the hands of the Americans. The British ended up losing the war and the Americans went on extending their occupancy of the Sauks territory, which they had ‘bought’.
Pressure between the Sauks and the Americans was now fast growing as the Sauks were not ready to leave they land so easily. In 1827, for example, the settlers did burn down Saukks village to the ground but Black hawk and his people rebuild the village determined not to lose their land. In 1828, the Sauks were forced to move west of Mississippi losing their ancestral land. Angered by the turn of events, Black Hawk led several incursions between 1830 and 1831across Mississippi river but each time being persuaded to retreat to the west without bloodshed. However, Black Hawk was not ready to surrender and he led several tragic battles against the Americans in 1832 until the end of August when he was finally captured and forced to surrender.
The book reads first and is such a thrilling one. It is such a valuable piece of history giving an account of the earliest confrontations of the Indians Americana and the new white settlers. I really like the book.