Editing Black Hawk War (section)

==Background==
In the 18th century, the [[Sauk people|Sauk]] and [[Meskwaki]] (or Fox) [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] tribes lived along the [[Mississippi River]] in what are now the U.S. states of [[Illinois]] and [[Iowa]]. The land they lived on was considered sacred because of the fertile soil, prime hunting, accessibility to lead, and access to water, which was helpful for trade. The two tribes had become closely connected after having been displaced from the [[Great Lakes region (North America)|Great Lakes region]] in conflicts with [[New France]] and other Native American tribes, particularly after the so-called [[Fox Wars]] ended in the 1730s.<ref>Hall, 21–26; Jung, 13–14; Trask, 29.</ref> By the time of the Black Hawk War, the population of the two tribes was about 6,000 people.<ref>Jung, 14; Trask, 64.</ref>

===Disputed treaty===
{{Main|Treaty of St. Louis (1804)}}
[[File:Stlouistreatymap1804.png|thumb|The land ceded to the United States in the 1804 [[Treaty of St. Louis (1804)|Treaty of St. Louis]] is shown here in yellow.]]

As the United States colonized westward in the early 19th century, government officials sought to buy as much Native American land as possible. In 1804, [[Indiana Territory|territorial governor]] [[William Henry Harrison]] negotiated a [[Treaty of St. Louis (1804)|treaty in St. Louis]] in which a group of Sauk and Meskwaki leaders supposedly sold their lands east of the Mississippi for more than $2,200, in goods and annual payments of $1,000 in goods. The treaty became controversial because the Native leaders had not been authorized by their tribal councils to cede lands. Historian Robert Owens argued that the chiefs probably did not intend to give up ownership of the land, and that they would not have sold so much valuable territory for such a modest price.<ref>Owens, 87–90.</ref> Historian Patrick Jung concluded that the Sauk and Meskwaki chiefs intended to cede a little land, but that the Americans included more territory in the treaty's language than the Natives realized.<ref>Jung, 21–22.</ref> According to Jung, the Sauks and Maskwacis did not learn the true extent of the cession until years later.<ref>Jung, 32.</ref>

The 1804 treaty allowed the tribes to continue using the ceded land until it was sold to American colonists by the U.S. government.<ref>Trask, 72.</ref> For the next two decades, Sauks continued to live at [[Saukenuk]], their primary village, which was located near the confluence of the Mississippi and [[Rock River (Mississippi River)|Rock Rivers]].<ref>Trask, 28–29.</ref> In 1828, the U.S. government finally began to have the ceded land surveyed for colonists. [[Indian agent]] [[Thomas Forsyth (Indian agent)|Thomas Forsyth]] informed the Sauks that they should vacate Saukenuk and their other settlements east of the Mississippi.<ref>Trask, 70; Jung, 52–53.</ref>

===Sauks divided===
The Sauks were divided about whether to resist implementation of the disputed 1804 treaty.<ref>Jung, 52.</ref> Most Sauks decided to relocate west of the Mississippi rather than become involved in a confrontation with the United States. The leader of this group was [[Keokuk (Sauk leader)|Keokuk]], who had helped defend Saukenuk against the Americans during the [[War of 1812]]. Keokuk was not a chief, but as a skilled orator, he often spoke on behalf of the Sauk civil chiefs in negotiations with the Americans.<ref>Jung, 55.</ref> Keokuk regarded the 1804 treaty as a fraud, but after having seen the size of American cities on the east coast in 1824, he did not think the Sauks could successfully oppose the United States.<ref>Jung, 54–55; Nichols, 78.</ref>

The Americans knew Keokuk was for peace and would not wage war against them. For this reason, the Americans gave him many gifts, hoping to bribe Keokuk into moving across the Mississippi into Iowa. The American plan succeeded when Keokuk and a majority of the tribe decided to leave. However, about 800 Sauks—roughly one-sixth of the tribe—chose instead to resist American expansion.<ref name="Jung, 56">Jung, 56.</ref> [[Black Hawk (Sauk leader)|Black Hawk]], a war captain who had fought against the United States in the War of 1812 and was now in his 60s, emerged as the leader of this faction in 1829.<ref>Jung, 53.</ref> Like Keokuk, Black Hawk was not a civil chief, but he became Keokuk's primary rival for influence within the tribe. Black Hawk had actually signed a treaty in May 1816 that affirmed the disputed 1804 land cession, but he insisted that what had been written down was different from what had been spoken at the treaty conference. According to Black Hawk, the "whites were in the habit of saying one thing to the Indians and putting another thing down on paper."<ref>Jung, 53; Trask, 73.</ref>

[[File:Keokuk1.jpg|thumb|upright|left|alt=Native American chief in regalia|Keokuk by [[George Catlin]], c. 1830s]]

Black Hawk was determined to hold onto Saukenuk, a village at the confluence of the Rock River with the Mississippi, where he lived and had been born. When the Sauks returned to the village in 1829 after their annual winter hunt in the west, they found that it had been occupied by squatters who were anticipating the sale of land.<ref>Hall, 90; Trask, 71.</ref> After months of clashes with the squatters, the Sauks left in September 1829 for the next winter hunt. Hoping to avoid further confrontations, Keokuk told Forsyth that he and his followers would not return to Saukenuk.<ref>Trask, 79.</ref>

Against the advice of Keokuk and Forsyth, Black Hawk's faction returned to Saukenuk in the spring of 1830.<ref>Jung, 59.</ref> This time, they were joined by more than 200 [[Kickapoo people|Kickapoos]], a people who had often allied with the Sauks.<ref>Jung, 47, 58.</ref> Black Hawk and his followers became known as the "[[British Band]]" because they sometimes flew a British flag to defy claims of U.S. sovereignty, and because they hoped to gain the support of the British at [[Fort Malden]] in Canada.<ref>Hall, 90, 127; Jung, 56.</ref>
[[File:Black Hawk 1831 newspaper.jpg|thumb|Newspaper account of the alarm caused by Sauk returning to [[Saukenuk]], ''Washington National Intelligencer'', June 13, 1831]]
When the British Band once again returned to Saukenuk in 1831, Black Hawk's following had grown to about 1,500 people, and now included some [[Potawatomi]]s,<ref>Jung, 60.</ref> a people with close ties to the Sauks and Meskwakis.<ref>Edmunds, 235–36.</ref> American officials determined to force the British Band out of the state. General [[Edmund P. Gaines]], commander of the Western Department of the [[United States Army]], assembled troops with the hope of intimidating Black Hawk into leaving. The army had no cavalry to pursue the Sauks should they flee further into Illinois on horseback, and so on June 5 Gaines requested that the state [[Militia in the United States|militia]] provide a mounted battalion.<ref>Eby, 83–86.</ref> Illinois governor [[John Reynolds (Illinois politician)|John Reynolds]] had already alerted the militia; about 1,500 volunteers turned out.<ref>Eby, 88; Jung, 62.</ref> Meanwhile, Keokuk convinced many of Black Hawk's followers to leave Illinois.<ref>Jung, 62.</ref>

On June 25, 1831, Gaines sent troops to [[Vandruff Island]] across from Saukenuk. The island had been named for a farmer and trader who operated a ferry, as well as sold liquor to the natives, which had previously prompted a raid by Black Hawk to destroy the whiskey.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rockislandpreservation.org/postcards-from-home/view-of-vandruff-island-from-black-hawk-tower/|title = View of Vandruff Island from Black Hawk Tower » RIPS}}</ref> This time, underbrush had grown to impede the militiamen from landing, so the next day the militia tried to assault Saukenuk itself, only to find that Black Hawk and his followers had abandoned the village and recrossed the Mississippi.<ref>Eby, 88–89; Jung, 63; Trask, 102.</ref> On June 30, Black Hawk, [[Quashquame]], and other Sauk leaders met with Gaines and signed an agreement in which the Sauks promised to remain west of the Mississippi and to break off further contact with the British in Canada.<ref>Jung, 64; Trask, 105.</ref>