Black Hawk State Historic Site
Encyclopedia
The Black Hawk State Historic Site, in Rock Island, Illinois
, occupies much of the historic site of the village of Saukenuk, the home of a band of Native Americans of the Sauk nation. It includes the John Hauberg Museum of Native American Life
. The state park is located on a 150-foot (45m) bluff overlooking the Rock River
in western Illinois. It is most famous for being the birth place of the Sauk warrior Black Hawk
. The disputed cession of this area to the U.S. Government was the catalyst for the Black Hawk War
.
, about 1750. The tribe's villagers were successful not only in agriculture but also in catching fur
-bearing animals, spending the winters in winter camps down and across the Mississippi collecting furs. The Sauk hunters skinned their catches and sold the peltry to fur traders from the Great Lakes
. From 1763 on, these traders were mostly British, and from the 1780s on, most of them were employees or contractors of the Canada-based North West Company
. In the spring, the Sauks gathered in sugar camps for maple sugar
ing before returning to the village (left empty since the fall) to plant crops and bury their dead.
The Saukenuk people's social and economic ties with British Canada
not only led to success for its people but kept the hope of British military assistance alive among the Sauk. Some of the Indians would travel each year to British forts on far-away Lake Superior and near Detroit for trading and gift-giving.
The disputed 1804 St. Louis Treaty between Quashquame
and William Henry Harrison
led to the transfer of Illinois lands to the U.S. Government, including Saukenuk. This treaty was deemed invalid by the Sauk who continued to live at the village.
By 1826, an estimated 4,800 Sauk lived in and around Saukenuk. It was the largest single settlement in the new U.S. state
of Illinois
. This is how Black Hawk described Saukenuk:
and the spread of settlers into Illinois and up the Mississippi River
doomed the village. In multiple treaties, many of the Sauk had signed land cessions that sold the land under Saukenuk to the new American nation. Part of the tribe established new villages in Iowa and in Missouri nearer their winter hunting grounds.
The campaign of 1832 led to a complete victory for the U.S. Army and the state of Illinois. Many of Black Hawk's followers were killed and the Quad Cities region was completely opened to settlement. However, many white Americans admired Black Hawk's courage in defense of his band's ancestral lands, and the native leader was elevated to the rank of a folk hero
.
In historic site. A statue of Black Hawk was raised on the site in 1892, and the Civilian Conservation Corps
redeveloped and improved the park in 1934-1942.
.
The historic site is served by Illinois Route 5
, which intersects with Interstate 74
in nearby Moline, Illinois
at exit #4.
specializes in Sauk and Mesquakie cultural objects and artifacts. The museum is located in a lodge constructed in 1934 by the Civilian Conservation Corps
and was named after Dr. John Hauberg, a philanthropist from Rock Island
. Exhibits include full-size replicas of Sauk winter and summer houses, dioramas depicting Native life typical of the period from 1750 to 1830, trade goods, jewelry and domestic items, and several Black Hawk artifacts, including his tomahawk
, two of his clay tobacco pipes, and a bronze
bust
fashioned from a plaster
life mask.
Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island is the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 40,884 at the 2010 census. Located on the Mississippi River, it is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring Moline, East Moline, and the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf. The Quad Cities...
, occupies much of the historic site of the village of Saukenuk, the home of a band of Native Americans of the Sauk nation. It includes the John Hauberg Museum of Native American Life
John Hauberg Museum of Native American Life
John Hauberg Museum of Native American Life is located in the Black Hawk Museum and Lodge at Black Hawk State Historic Site in Rock Island, Illinois, United States. The museum is in an historic building that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the in 1985...
. The state park is located on a 150-foot (45m) bluff overlooking the Rock River
Rock River (Illinois)
The Rock River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately long, in the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Illinois. It rises in southeast Wisconsin, in the Theresa Marsh near Theresa, Wisconsin in northeast Dodge County, Wisconsin approximately south of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin...
in western Illinois. It is most famous for being the birth place of the Sauk warrior Black Hawk
Black Hawk (chief)
Black Hawk was a leader and warrior of the Sauk American Indian tribe in what is now the United States. Although he had inherited an important historic medicine bundle, he was not one of the Sauk's hereditary civil chiefs...
. The disputed cession of this area to the U.S. Government was the catalyst for the Black Hawk War
Black Hawk War
The Black Hawk War was a brief conflict fought in 1832 between the United States and Native Americans headed by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted soon after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis, and Kickapoos known as the "British Band" crossed the Mississippi River into the U.S....
.
Under the Sauk
The Sauk nation occupied this site as their principal village, a well-drained area suitable for growing cornMaize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
, about 1750. The tribe's villagers were successful not only in agriculture but also in catching fur
Fur
Fur is a synonym for hair, used more in reference to non-human animals, usually mammals; particularly those with extensives body hair coverage. The term is sometimes used to refer to the body hair of an animal as a complete coat, also known as the "pelage". Fur is also used to refer to animal...
-bearing animals, spending the winters in winter camps down and across the Mississippi collecting furs. The Sauk hunters skinned their catches and sold the peltry to fur traders from the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
. From 1763 on, these traders were mostly British, and from the 1780s on, most of them were employees or contractors of the Canada-based North West Company
North West Company
The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what was to become Western Canada...
. In the spring, the Sauks gathered in sugar camps for maple sugar
Maple sugar
Maple sugar is a traditional sweetener in the northeastern United States and Canada, prepared from the sap of the sugar maple tree.-Preparation:...
ing before returning to the village (left empty since the fall) to plant crops and bury their dead.
The Saukenuk people's social and economic ties with British Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
not only led to success for its people but kept the hope of British military assistance alive among the Sauk. Some of the Indians would travel each year to British forts on far-away Lake Superior and near Detroit for trading and gift-giving.
The disputed 1804 St. Louis Treaty between Quashquame
Quashquame
Quashquame was a Sauk chief; he was the principal signer of the 1804 treaty that ceded Sauk land to the United States government...
and William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison
William Henry Harrison was the ninth President of the United States , an American military officer and politician, and the first president to die in office. He was 68 years, 23 days old when elected, the oldest president elected until Ronald Reagan in 1980, and last President to be born before the...
led to the transfer of Illinois lands to the U.S. Government, including Saukenuk. This treaty was deemed invalid by the Sauk who continued to live at the village.
By 1826, an estimated 4,800 Sauk lived in and around Saukenuk. It was the largest single settlement in the new U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. This is how Black Hawk described Saukenuk:
The Black Hawk War
The defeat of the British Canadians in the War of 1812War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
and the spread of settlers into Illinois and up the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
doomed the village. In multiple treaties, many of the Sauk had signed land cessions that sold the land under Saukenuk to the new American nation. Part of the tribe established new villages in Iowa and in Missouri nearer their winter hunting grounds.
The campaign of 1832 led to a complete victory for the U.S. Army and the state of Illinois. Many of Black Hawk's followers were killed and the Quad Cities region was completely opened to settlement. However, many white Americans admired Black Hawk's courage in defense of his band's ancestral lands, and the native leader was elevated to the rank of a folk hero
Folk hero
A folk hero is a type of hero, real, fictional, or mythological. The single salient characteristic which makes a character a folk hero is the imprinting of the name, personality and deeds of the character in the popular consciousness. This presence in the popular consciousness is evidenced by...
.
In historic site. A statue of Black Hawk was raised on the site in 1892, and the Civilian Conservation Corps
Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18–25. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D...
redeveloped and improved the park in 1934-1942.
The village site today
The center of the Sauk village of Saukenuk is now the Black Hawk State Historical Site and John Hauberg Museum of Native American Life. However, the village spread out over a much larger area than the boundaries of the current state park. The Rock Island side of the village's site is now partly a large quarry. Many villagers lived south of the Rock River, in what is now Milan, IllinoisMilan, Illinois
Milan is a village in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 5,257 at the 2000 census.The village is located near the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa. Before ceasing operations in 2003, Eagle Food Centers was based out of Milan....
.
The historic site is served by Illinois Route 5
Illinois Route 5
Illinois Route 5 is a four-lane road that runs from U.S. Route 67 in Rock Island to the interchange of Interstate 80 and the toll-free portion of Interstate 88, a distance of...
, which intersects with Interstate 74
Interstate 74
Interstate 74 is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Its western end is at an intersection with Interstate 80 in Davenport, Iowa; the eastern end of its Midwest segment is at an intersection with Interstate 75 in Cincinnati, Ohio...
in nearby Moline, Illinois
Moline, Illinois
Moline is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, with a population of 45,792 in 2010. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island in Illinois and the cities of Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa. The Quad Cities has a population of...
at exit #4.
John Hauberg Museum of Native American Life
The Hauberg MuseumJohn Hauberg Museum of Native American Life
John Hauberg Museum of Native American Life is located in the Black Hawk Museum and Lodge at Black Hawk State Historic Site in Rock Island, Illinois, United States. The museum is in an historic building that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the in 1985...
specializes in Sauk and Mesquakie cultural objects and artifacts. The museum is located in a lodge constructed in 1934 by the Civilian Conservation Corps
Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18–25. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D...
and was named after Dr. John Hauberg, a philanthropist from Rock Island
Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island is the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 40,884 at the 2010 census. Located on the Mississippi River, it is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring Moline, East Moline, and the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf. The Quad Cities...
. Exhibits include full-size replicas of Sauk winter and summer houses, dioramas depicting Native life typical of the period from 1750 to 1830, trade goods, jewelry and domestic items, and several Black Hawk artifacts, including his tomahawk
Tomahawk (axe)
A tomahawk is a type of axe native to North America, traditionally resembling a hatchet with a straight shaft. The name came into the English language in the 17th century as a transliteration of the Powhatan word.Tomahawks were general purpose tools used by Native Americans and European Colonials...
, two of his clay tobacco pipes, and a bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
bust
Bust (sculpture)
A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...
fashioned from a plaster
Plaster
Plaster is a building material used for coating walls and ceilings. Plaster starts as a dry powder similar to mortar or cement and like those materials it is mixed with water to form a paste which liberates heat and then hardens. Unlike mortar and cement, plaster remains quite soft after setting,...
life mask.