Black Hawk(Ma‘katawimeshekā‘käa,
from ma‘katäwi
‘it is black, mishi `big,' kā‘käa
' the name referring to the description of a bird, or
sparrow hawk. W. J.)
A subordinate chief of the Sank and Fox Indians and leader in
the Black Hawk war of
1832. He was born at the Sauk village at the mouth of
Rock River, Ill.,
in 1767, and
belonged to
the Thunder gens of
the Sauk tribe. When
only 15 years of age he distinguished himself in
war; and before he was 17, at
the head of a war
party of young men, he attacked an Osage camp of 100 persons and came away safely with the scalp
of a warrior. The next party that heled out,
however, he brought to a deserted village, on account of
which all except 5 of his party
left him; but with these he
kept on and brought
away 2 scalps with which to efface his disgrace. At the
age, of 19 he led 200
Sauk and Foxes in a desperate engagement with an equal
number of Osage, destroying half of his opponents,
killing 5 men and a woman
with his own hands.
In a subsequent raid
on the Cherokee his
party killed 28, with a loss of but 7; but among the latter was
his own father, who was guardian of the tribal medicine, hence Black hawk
refrained from war
during the 5 years following and endeavored to acquire
greater supernatural
power. At the end of that time he went against the Osage,
destroyed a camp of
40 lodges, with the exception of 2 women, and himself slew 9
persons. On a
subsequent expedition against the Cherokee in revenge for his
father's death he found only 5 enemies, 4 men and a woman. The latter he
carried off, but the men he released, deeming it no
honor to kill so few. On the outbreak
of the war of 1812
Black Hawk, with most of his people, joined the British and fought
for them throughout,
committing many depredations
on the border settlements. Afterward, in opposition to the head
chief, Keokuk, who
cultivated American friendship,
he was leader of the British sympathizers who traded at Malden
in preference to
St Louis.
