Sauk ( Osā'kiwŭg,
'people of the outlet,' or, possibly, 'people of the yellow earth,' in
contradistinction from the Muskwakiwuk, 'Red Earth People', a name of the
Foxes).
One of a number of Algonquian tribes whose earliest
known habitat was embraced within the eastern peninsula of Michigan, the
other tribes being the Potawatomi, the "Nation of the Fork," and probably
the famous Mascoutens and the Foxes. The present name of Saginaw Bay (Sāginā'we’,
signifying 'the country or place of the Sauk') is apparently derived from
the ethnic appellative Sauk. There is presumptive evidence that the Sauk,
with the tribes mentioned above, were first known to Europeans under the
general ethnic term "Gens de Feu" or that of "Asistagueronon," the latter
being the Huron translation of the specific name Potawatomi, both the
terms in question being first recorded by Champlain and Sagard. In 1616
Champlain, while in what is now Ontario, learned from the Tionontati, or
Tobacco Nation, that their kindred, the Neutral Nation, aided the Ottawa (Cheueux
releuez) in waging war against the Gens de Fen, i. e. 'People of the
Fire,' and that the Ottawa carried on a warfare against "another nation of
savages who were called Asistagueronon, which is to say, 'People of the
Place of the Fire,"' who were distant from the Ottawa 10 days' journey;
and lastly, in more fully describing the country, manners, and customs of
the Ottawa, he added, "In the first place, they wage war against another
nation of savages who are called Asistagueronon, which is to say, 'people
of the fire,' distant from them 10 days' journey." He supplemented this
statement with the remark that "they pressed me strongly to assist them
against their enemies, who are on the shore of the Mer Douce [Lake Huron],
distant 200 leagues." Sagard, who was in Canada during the years 1623-26,
wrote in his Histoire du Canada (I, 194, ed. 1866), that the sedentary and
the migratory Ottawa together waged war against the Asistagueronon, who
were 9 or 10 days' journey by canoe from the Ottawa, a distance which he
estimated at "about 200 leagues and more of travel."
Before the Sauk became known as an independent tribe,
it is evident that they formed a part of this group of important
Algonquian communities, which was called by the Hurons and cognate peoples
"Asistagueronon," and by the French, "Nation or People of the Fire," a
translation of the former appellative. In order therefore to understand
clearly the ethnic relations of the Sauk, it will be necessary to review
the earliest known facts relating to this interesting group of tribes. So
far as known, the Sauk were first mentioned independently in the Jesuit
Relation for 1640 (35, ed. 1858) under the generic Huron name
Hvattoehronon, i. e. 'people of the sunset,' or briefly, 'westerners.'
They were here mentioned among a number of other tribes along with the
Foxes (Skenchiohronon), the Potawatomi (Attistaehronon), the Kickapoo (Ontarahronon,
`lake people'), the Mascoutens (Oherokouaehronon, 'people of the place of
grass'), the Winnebago (Aoueatsiouaenhronon, 'saline or brackish water
people'), and the Crane band of the Miami (Attochingochronon). The
following citations from the Jesuit Relations embody some of the evidence
that the Sauk, the Potawatomi (q. v.), and the Nation of the Fork, were
generally comprised in the Huron ethnic appellative Asistagueronon, i. e.
'People of the Place of Fire,' which is the literal signification of the
tribal name Potawatomi.
Father Allouez, the first person to describe the Sauk,
wrote in 1667 that they were more savage than all the other peoples he had
met; that they were a populous tribe, although they had no fixed dwelling
place, being wanderers and vagabonds in the forests. He was told that if
they or the Foxes found a person in an isolated place they would kill him,
especially if he were a Frenchman, for they could not endure the sight of
the whiskers of the European. Yet, two years later he reported that the
first place in which he began to give religious instruction was in a
village of the "Ousaki," situated at the DePere Rapids, Wis., wherein he
found several tribes in winter quarters, namely, the "Ousaki, the
Pouteouatami, the Outagami [Foxes], and the Ovenibigoutz [Winnebago] about
600 souls." Allouez adds that a league and a half away there was another
village of about 150 persons; that at 4 leagues farther away there was
another of about 100 persons; that at 8 leagues away there was another of
about 300 persons, situated on the opposite side of the bay; that at 25
leagues, at a place called Ouestatinong, dwelt the Foxes, and that at a
day's journey from this tribe dwelt the Makskouteng [Mascoutens, and the
Oumami [Miami], the latter being reputed to be a band of the Illinois. The
Indians of this region, the Father reported, were "more barbarous than
usual," having no ingenuity, not knowing even how "to make a bark dish or
a ladle," using shells instead.
In the Jesuit Relation for 1658 (21, ed. 1858) Father
Ragueneau reported what he had learned concerning the upper lake tribes
from Father Bruillettes, a skilful and accomplished Huron and Algonquian
linguist, who in listing these tribes used to some extent the knowledge of
these communities obtained by Radisson and Groseilliers, who had then but
recently discovered and visited a number of them. In the descriptive list
of these tribes cited by Father Ragueneau, the following statements are
pertinent here: "The third nation is distant about 3 days' journey by
water from the town of St Michel, going inland. It is composed of the
Makoutensak and the Outitchakouk [i. e. the Crane Miami]. The two
Frenchmen [probably Radisson and Groseilliers] who have traveled in those
countries say that these people are of a very mild nature." "The
fourteenth nation has 30 towns, inhabited by the Atsistagherronnons. They
are southwest a quarter south at 6 or 7 days' journey from St Michel. The
Onondaga have recently declared war against them." This is presumptive
evidence from seemingly competent authority that the ethnic names
Mascoutens and Atsistagherronnons were not in 1658 by any means synonymous
or convertible epithets, and that therefore the peoples designated by them
were not identical. This confusion as to names in question persisted until
about 1671, as the following citations will show. In the Jesuit Relation
for 1670 (99, ed. 1858) Father Allouez stated that "We entered the river
which leads to the Machkoutench, called Assista Ectaeronnons, Nation of
the Fire, by the Hurons"; but in the Relation for the following year (p.
45) Father Allouez stated that "The Nation of the Fire bears this name by
an error, properly calling themselves Maskoutench, which signifies a land
cleared of trees, such as is that which these people inhabit; but because
by the change of a few letters which one makes, this same word signifies
fire, it follows that one calls them the Nation of the Fire." There is in
each of these statements an error which was due directly to the process of
the gradual elimination of tribes becoming known from a group of unknown
peoples or tribes which bore a generic name "people of the place of fire,"
derived from the specific name of an important one of these tribes, the
Potawatomi (q. v.), whose name signifies literally, 'people of the place
of fire.' This confounding of several tribes one with another, and the
consequent misapplication of specific and generic names, were made
evidently not by the Hurons but by French traders and missionaries.
In the Jesuit Relation for 1671 (25, ed. 1858) Father
Dablon, speaking of Green Bay, Wisconsin, wrote that the Menominee, the
Sauk, the Potawatomi, and other neighboring tribes, "being driven from
their own countries, which are the lands southward near Missilimakinac,
have taken refuge at the head of this bay, beyond which one can see inland
the 'Nation of the Fire,' or Mathkoutench, with one of the Illinois tribes
called Oumiami, and the Foxes." And in the same Relation (p. 37), he said:
"The three nations who are now in the bay of the Winnebago as strangers
resided on the mainland which is south of this island [i. e.
Missilimakinac] some on the shores of the Lake of the Illinois [i. e.
Michigan], others on those of the Lake of the Hurons. A part of those who
call themselves Salteurs [Chippewa] possessed lands on the mainland toward
the west. Four villages of the Ottawa also had their lands in these
quarters, but especially those who bore the name of the island, calling
themselves Missilimakinac, and who were so numerous that some of those who
are still living [1670] assert that they composed 30 villages, and that
they had enclosed themselves in a fort a league and a half in circuit,
when the Iroquois, flushed with a victory gained over 3,000 men of this
tribe who had carried the war even into the country of the Mohawk, came to
defeat them." Further (p. 42), the Father relates: "Four nations make
their abode here, namely, those who hear the name Puants [i. e., the
Winnebago], who have always lived here, as it were, in their own country,
and who, having been defeated by the Illinois, their enemies, have been
reduced from a very flourishing and populous people to nothing; the
Potawatomi, the Sauk, and the Nation of the Fork (de la Fourche)
also live here, but as strangers, the fear of the Iroquois having driven
them from their lands, which are between the Lake of the Hurons and that
of the Illinois." There can be little if any doubt that in these citations
the names "Iroquois" and "Mohawk" should be replaced by "Neuters," who to
these fugitive tribes were known also as 'Nadō'weg'
(see Nadowa); otherwise established facts are contravened by these
statements, and it has already been shown that the "Neutre Nation" aided
the Ottawa against the tribes on the shores of Lake Huron. The foregoing
quotations make it evident that the Potawatomi, the Sauk, and the 'Nation
of the Fork' were included in the Asistagueronon of Champlain and Sagard,
represented by them as dwelling in 1616 on the western shore lands of Lake
Huron and farther westward. Thus far no evidence has been adduced to show
that Mascoutens and Asistagueronon were at first convertible or synonymous
appellatives.
Further, Father Dablon, in the Jesuit Relation for 1670
(79, ed. 1858), said with reference to the Sault Sainte Marie: "The first
and native inhabitants of this place are those who call themselves
Pahouiting8ach Irini, whom the French name Saulteurs, because these are
they who dwell at the Sault, as in their own country, the others being
there only by adoption; they number only 150 souls, but they have united
with three other tribes, who number more than 550 persons, to whom they
have made a cession of the rights of their native country; they also
reside there fixedly, except during the time in which they go to hunt.
Those whom one calls the Nouquet range forth purpose southward of Lake
Superior, when they came originally, and the Outchibo [Chippewa] with the
Marameg, north ward of the same lake, which they regard as their own
proper country."
From the Jesuit Relation for 1644 it is learned that
the long struggle between the so-called "Neutral Nation" and the "Nation
du Feu" at that time was still maintained with unabated fury. Father
Jerome Lallemant (Jes. Rel. 1644, 98, ed. 1858) states that in the summer
of 1642 the Neuters with a force of 2,000 warriors advanced into the
country of the "Nation du Feu" and attacked a town of this tribe which was
strongly defended by palisades and manned by 900 resolute warriors; that
these patriots withstood the assaults of the besiegers for 10 days, but
that at the end of this time the devoted place was carried. Many of its
defenders were killed on the spot, and 800 captives-men, women, and
children were taken; and 70 of the best warriors among the prisoners were
burned at the stake, the, merciless victors putting out the eyes and
cutting away the lips of all the old men and leaving them thus to die
miserably. The Father adds the interesting statement that "this Nation of
the Fire is more populous than all the Neutral Nation, all the Hurons, and
all the Iroquois, enemies of the Hurons, put together; it consists of a
large number of villages wherein the Algonquin language is spoken." This
last citation is further proof that the term "Fire Nation," or "Nation of
the Place of Fire," at that period was applied in a broad general sense
rather than in a specific one. Apparently it embraced all the tribes
formerly dwelling in the eastern peninsula of the present state of
Michigan, and later removed to the north and west shores of the present
Lake Michigan, and still later it embraced some of the Illinois tribes.
From the Jesuit Relation for 1642, (97,ed.1858) it is
learned that the Saulteurs informed the Jesuit fathers that "a certain
tribe more distant [than the Sault Sainte Marie from the Huron mission],
which they call Pouteatami, had abandoned its country and had come to take
refuge with the inhabitants of the Sault to escape from some other hostile
tribe that vexes them with ceaseless wars." This shows that the Potawatomi
were then westward from the home of the Saulteurs, and that their
emigration from the Michigan peninsula was not then of many years'
standing.
It has been shown from historical data that for a long
period before 1651 the Neuters and the Ottawa together waged bitter
warfare against a group of tribes which became known to the French writers
as Gens de Feu, or 'People of the Fire,' and as Asistagueronon, or 'People
of the Place of Fire,' and later as the Mascoutens, by an error, the last
name meaning, as an appellative, `People Dwelling in Small Prairies.'
There is no known historical data showing that, during the time that the
Ottawa and the Neuters occupied the peninsula north of Lake Erie, the
Iroquois, specifically so called, carried on any warlike operations
against tribes dwelling westward of the two just mentioned. The fact is
that the name Nadoweg, or Nadō'weg,
was a general name of hateful significance which was applied by Algonquian
tribes generally to any people of Iroquoian stock, as the Neuters, the
Tionontati, and the Hurons. Now, inasmuch as the Neuters with their
allies, the Ottawa, encountered their enemies on the western "shores" of
Lake Huron, i. e., in the present Michigan peninsula, and as it is known
that as late as 1642 the Neuters sent into this region a force of 2,000
warriors which destroyed a stronghold of their enemies, it can be said
with propriety that the Algonquian tribes formerly inhabiting the
peninsula were driven there from by the Nadō'weg,
meaning, conclusively it would seem, the Neuters, but understood by the
French missionaries and writers to signify the "Iroquois," properly so
called. Hence, the confusion regarding the invaders who drove out the
tribes formerly dwelling westward of Lake Huron. But it is also true that
after the total defeat of the Neuters in 1651 by the "true" Iroquois, or
League of Five Nations, these latter tribes came in touch at once with the
tribes which had been at war against the Neuters, and in some cases
naturally the Iroquois inherited the quarrels of the Neuters. The Iroquois
proper did not, therefore, drive out the Potawatomi, the Sauk, the Foxes,
and the other fugitive tribes from their ancient territories west of Lake
Huron, for the Potawatomi were in Wisconsin as early as 1634, when Nicolet
found them there. It was nearly 20 years later that the "true" Iroquois
advanced into the lake region in pursuit of the Hurons, the Tionontati,
and the Neuter fugitives, fleeing from the ruins of their towns and homes.
It seems clear that the tribes of the Algonquian stock
formerly inhabiting the northern peninsula of Michigan were driven out by
the Neuters and the Ottawa, their allies. It is erroneous to assume that
the fugitive tribes retreated first southward and then westward around the
southern end of Lake Michigan, directly across rather than directly away
from the line of attack from the north along Detroit and St Clair rivers.
It is learned from Perrot that the Neuters occupied Detroit river. Most
Indians who have been forced to retire from a battlefield or from their
homes have shown that they were past-masters in the art of eluding a
pursuing foe, and it has not been shown that the Sauk, the Potawatomi, the
Rasawakoueton or Fork tribe, and their allies, were devoid of this
characteristic trait. It is not probable, therefore, that the Sauk,
starting from the shores of Saginaw bay, deliberately exposed their flank
and rear to the direct attacks of the Neuters over a march exceeding 300
miles. The more probable course of the retreat of the Sauk and their
allies from the Michigan peninsula was evidently northwestward across
Mackinaw straits into northern Michigan, thence westward to the region
around Green Bay and Fox river, where they were first found by the early
French explorers.
From the Jesuit Relation for 1666-67 it is learned that
bands of the Sauk and Foxes were dwelling in the vicinity of
Shaugawaumikong (La Pointe) and that Father Allouez preached to them and
baptized some of their children.
During 1671-72 the expatriated Hurons, composed largely
of the Tionontati and the (Black) Squirrel band of the Ottawa (Sinagos),
having perfected preparations, together marched against the Sioux, who
were at peace with them. On their way they succeeded in corrupting the
Sauk with presents, and the Foxes and Potawatomi also were induced to join
the expedition. The united tribes mustered about 1,000 warriors for this
raid, nearly all of whom were armed with guns and provided with ammunition
which the first two tribes had obtained in Montreal during the previous
year. As a precautionary measure they had moved their villages back to
Michilimackinac and Manitoulin Island. As soon as this force reached the
Sioux country, it fell upon some small villages, putting the men to flight
and capturing the women and children. Fugitives soon spread the alarm in
all the allied villages of the Sioux, whence issued swarms of warriors who
attacked the enemy so vigorously that the latter were forced to abandon a
fort which they had commenced to erect and to flee in consternation. The
Sioux pursued them so closely that they were enabled to kill many of the
fugitives, some of whom threw away their arms to expedite their flight.
These losses and those caused by hunger and the rigor of the weather
resulted in the practical annihilation of the allies; the Foxes, the
Kiskakon, and the Potawatomi, being less inured to the stress of warfare
than the others, did not lose many warriors on this occasion, because they
fled at the beginning of the combat. The Hurons, the Squirrel band of the
Ottawa, and the Sauk, however, distinguished themselves by their courage
and prowess, and by their stubborn resistance materially aided the others
in making their escape. In the retreat, which was turned to a rout by the
furious pursuit of the Sioux, the confusion became so great that many of
the fugitives, driven by privation and hunger, were compelled to eat one
another. The chief of the Squirrel band of the Ottawa was captured by the
Sioux and condemned to torture by fire. They broiled pieces of his flesh
and forced him to eat them. He and his brother-in-law, the Sauk chief,
were thus fed until their death at the stake. The rest of the prisoners
were shot to death with arrows.
Bacqueville de 1a Potherie says that in 1665-66 the
Potawatomi took the southern, the Sauk the northern, part of Green Bay,
and the Winnebago, who were not fishermen, went into the forest to live on
venison and bear meat. In the spring the Foxes notified the Sauk that they
had established themselves in quarters 30 leagues from the bay, forming a
settlement of about 600 lodges. The French, for prudent reasons, left to
the Sauk the trade in peltries with the Foxes, since they could the more
quietly deal with the Sauk in the autumn.
In 1721 the Sauk were still resident at Green Bay, but
owing to growing difficulties with the Foxes, they were on the point of
removing to the St Joseph river. At this time their village was situated
on the left bank of Fox river, near its mouth. Although consisting only of
a small number of persons at this period, the Sauk had separated into two
factions, of which one was attached to the Foxes and the other to the
Potawatomi and the French. It was these latter who constituted the bulk of
the village mentioned above.
In 1725 the Sauk, in sympathy with the Foxes and the
Sioux, were preparing to attack the Illinois.
According to a letter of Beauharnois, dated July 21,
1729 (Wis. Hist. Coll., xvii, 63), the Sauk and the Potawatomi of St
Joseph river, along with the Ottawa and the Chippewa of Michilimackinac,
the Miami, Wea, and Hurons, together with the Potawatomi and Ottawa of
Detroit, went to Montreal to inform him what had occurred concerning the
Foxes, against whom they were then at war, and to learn what he desired
them to do further. The Sauk, whose village was situated probably on the
west side of Fox river, near the site of the present city of Green Bay,
Wis., gave in 1733 asylum to some refugee Foxes. When the Sieur De
Villiers, the younger, attempted after a formal demand for the surrender
of the Foxes by the Sauk to take them by force, the Sauk resisted and
killed De Villiers and Monsieur De Repentigny and several other Frenchmen,
thus repulsing the detachment of French and Indian allies. Three days
later the Sauk evacuated their fort by night. They were pursued by the
French and their Indian allies, the Ottawa, the Menominee, and the
Chippewa under the ensign, the Sieur De Villiers, who overtook the Sauk
and the Foxes probably at what is now called Little Butte des Morts, near
the present Appleton. De Villiers at once attacked the Sauk, and after
several hours of fighting defeated them. The Sauk lost 20, the Foxes 9,
and among the injured 9 others were mortally wounded. Among the French 13
officers and men were wounded and 2 were killed; the Ottawa lost 9 men,
including their head chief; the Chippewa loss was 2 killed and 4 wounded.
The Marquis de Beauharnois, the governor of Canada, at
once gave orders to attack the Sauk and the remaining Foxes to avenge the
shedding of French blood. The death of De Villiers, who was the victor at
LeRocher in 1730, led to two important events, first, the close
confederation of the Sauk and the Foxes, and second, the removal of the
united tribes from the territory of Wisconsin to the land of the Iowa,
west of the Mississippi. Previous to the events leading up to this
migration the Sauk had ostensibly been allies of the French, even taking
part in the war against the Foxes, but they had nevertheless clandestinely
given aid and comfort to the devoted Foxes. From this period the united
tribes became known as the Sauk and Foxes.
In 1777 the Spanish authorities at San Luis de
Ylinneses knew the Sauk as one of the tribes that came from the English
district "to receive presents at this post; that they had 400 warriors,
and that they were kindly disposed toward the Spanish," for although
"frequent bands" had visited "this village," they had caused no trouble.
In 1780 Francisco Cruzat, a Spanish officer, wrote to Governor Bernardo
Galvez, of Louisiana, that he had caused the Sauk to surrender to him two
English banners and thirteen medals which they desired to be replaced with
Spanish medals. Cruzat accordingly afterward made the exchange in order
that he might "content said chiefs."
In the instructions for the Spanish Governor of St Louis, dated Feb. 15,
1781 (Wis. Hist. Coll., xviii, 419, 1908), the writer thereof said: "I
believe it is excellent for Your Grace to have distinguished the zeal and
affection of the Sac tribe who have so generously lent to our district in
circumstances of so little advantage [to them]. On this occasion, 16
medals are sent and 10 flags with 16 letters patent which Your Grace is to
distribute among the chiefs of the Sac tribe, who, according to Your
Grace's advice of the 28th of September, surrendered 13 English medals and
three banners. I hope that in spite of the great presents which are
distributed by the English among these tribes, and notwithstanding the
small sum that we have, their hopes will prove empty, even though the
[English] governor descend from Michilimakinak, which I doubt. At all
events, the zeal, honor, and activity of Your Grace promises me a happy
result on our part in their boasted attack on those settlements next
Spring. I approve the determination which Your Grace took with the tribes
of the Misuri, in making them hand over the two English banners which had
been introduced among them. Chuteau [Chouteau] delivered me the 14 medal,
and 5 English flags which Your Grace recovered from the Sac and Pus
[Potawatomi] tribes, as I have said, they were replaced on this occasion."
These extracts show the good effect of the Spanish policy in restraining
the extreme western tribes from following English agents against the
American colonists.
Among the tribes of the Illinois country, the Sank in
1769 received presents from the Spaniards.
In 1766 Carver found the chief town of the Sauk on
Wisconsin river, probably on the site of Prairie du Sac; it consisted of
about 90 lodges and 300 warriors.
From the journal of Peter Pond, 177375 (Wis. Hist. Coll., xviii, 335 et
seq.), the following citation concerning the habits and customs of the
Sauk is made: "These People are Cald Saukeas. They are of a Good Sise and
Well Disposed Les Inclind to tricks and Bad manners than thare Nighbers.
Thay will take of the traders Goods on Creadit in the fall for thare youse.
In Winter and Except for Axedant thay Pay the Deapt Verey Wel I for Indans
I mite have sade Inlitend or Sivelised Indans which are in General made
worse by the Operation. Sum of thare Huts are Sixtey feet Long and
Contanes Several fammalayes. . . . In the fall of ye Year thay Leave thare
Huts and Go into the Woods in Quest of Game and Return in the Spring to
thare Huts before Planting time. The Women Rase Grate Crops of Corn, Been,
Punkens, Potatoes, Millans and artikels-the Land is Exaleant-and Clear of
Wood Sum Distans from the Villeag. Thare [are] Sum Hundred of Inhabitants.
Thare amnsments are Singing, Dancing, Smokein, Mateheis, Gaining,
Feasting, Drinking, Playing the Slite of Hand, Hunting and thay are fainas
in Mageack. Thay are Not Verey Gellas of thare Women. In General the Women
find meanes to Grattafv them Selves without Consent of the Men." Pond adds
that the Sauk warriors often joined the war parties of neighboring tribes
against the Indians on Missouri river and westward; that sometimes they
went to the vicinity of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and captured Spanish horses,
of which he had seen a large number.
A Sauk band, which later became known as the Missouri
River Sauk, had been for some time in the habit of wintering near the post
of St Louis on the Missouri. One winter, about 1804, the head-men of this
band were drawn into negotiations with government officials at the post.
It is an open question if these leaders knew what they were doing. At any
rate the band became a party to negotiations, which in time were to lead
to the undoing of the Sauk and Foxes, by which these tribes were to
relinquish all claim to territory in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Missouri.
The know ledge of what the Missouri River band had done naturally incensed
the rest of the people. It was then that the band realized what it had
done, but it was too late. Knowing the temper of the people, the band
remained away, and it has continued to do so ever since. The Foxes became
so angry with the Sauk for letting one of their bands act for all the
people that they began at once to draw away from the Sauk, and in the
course of a generation they had moved over into their hunting grounds in
Iowa. Other agreements were entered into with the three divisions of these
people before the treaty of 1804 was finally carried out. Out of all this,
in connection with the general unrest of the tribes of this region, arose
the so-called Black Hawk War in 1832. It is customary to lay the cause of
this conflict to the refusal of the Sauk to comply with the terms of
agreement they had entered into with the Government with reference
particularly to the lands on Rock river in Illinois. Be that as it may,
the actual fighting between the Sauk and the Government was of a rather
feeble character. But the fighting between the Sauk on the one hand and
the Sioux, Omaha, and Menominee on the other was extremely severe. These
tribes, together with the Potawatomi and Winnebago, had previously sent
emissaries to the Sauk urging them on to fight the whites and at the same
time promising immediate assistance. The Potawatomi were the most
persistent in this matter; they had prophets in the camp of the Sauk
preaching restoration of the old hunting grounds, the return of the game,
and the sudden miraculous destruction of the whites; but when hostilities
began, their chief, Shabonee (q. v.), was the first to warn the whites
against the Sauk. Among the Sauk at this time was an able man of the
Thunder clan known to the whites under the name of
Black Hawk (q. v. ). He was not a
chief, but had gained a good record for bravery and leadership in war. He
was deeply religions, and thoroughly patriotic. He had fought under
Tecumseh and had become imbued with some of the ideas of the great
Shawnee. About this man rallied the hostile Sauk. He first tried holding
the Sauk in check until he could count on the combined help of the
Kickapoo and Foxes, but the fighting got under way before he was ready.
The Sauk were thoroughly beaten, and sought refuge among the Foxes in
Iowa. Considerable resentment was felt against the Winnebago for having
delivered Black Hawk over to the whites when he had come to them seeking
refuge; and the same feeling was entertained toward the Potawatomi for
going over to the whites. For some time previous to this trouble there had
been intimate relationship between the Sauk and these two tribes. This
conflict practically broke the power of the Sauk and Foxes. They united
again in Iowa, this time to avenge themselves against the Sioux, Omaha,
and Menominee, whom they chastised in lively fashion, but not enough to
satisfy their desires.
So constantly harassed were the Sioux that they finally
left Iowa altogether, and the Menominee withdrew northward where they
continued to remain. In 1837 the Sauk and Foxes made the last of their
various cessions of Iowa lands, and were given in exchange a tract across
the Missouri in Kansas. Here they remained practically as one people for
about 20 years. But internal dissensions, due largely to Keokuk (q. v.,
were causing them to grow apart. They maintained separate villages, the
Sauk in one and the Foxes in another. One summer about the years 1857-59,
the leading Foxes returned from a buffalo hunt and found that during their
absence the Sauk had made a treaty with the Government by the terms of
which the Sauk and Foxes were to take up lands in severalty and sell the
remainder, the whole transaction having been negotiated by whites to get
possession of the Indians' land for purposes of speculation.
The Fox chief refused to ratify the agreement on behalf
of the Foxes, and for so doing was deprived of his chieftainship; but the
Foxes did not recognize the act of the agent deposing their chief. In the
fall the Fox chief went away to Iowa, and with him most of the Foxes. An
incident occurring shortly before this time, i. e., in 1854, had much to
do with hastening the departure of many of the Foxes for Iowa. While on a
buffalo hunt a party of about 50 men were attacked by a large force of
Plains Indians, consisting, it is said, of Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, and
Comanche. The Foxes were armed with "Kentucky rifles," while the others
had only bows and arrows. Retreating upon a rise of ground where approach
was possible from only one direction, the Foxes beat off their assailants,
inflicting heavy loss. On their return home they became uneasy lest the
Government, on learning the news of the slaughter, might deal sternly with
them, and so they quietly stole off to Iowa. A few Foxes had never gone to
Kansas, but had remained in Iowa. Some had returned before the main exodus
of 1859. They finally found a place on Iowa river, near Tama City, where
they bought a small piece of land. This has been added to from time to
time till they now have more than 3,000 acres which they hold in common.
They have nothing more to do with the Sauk politically. In 1867 the Sauk
ceded their lands in Kansas and in exchange were given a tract in Indian
Territory. In 1889 they took up lands in severalty and sold the remainder
to the Government.
The close relations of the Sauk with the Foxes in
historical time make it difficult to form more than an approximate
estimate of their numbers in past, but it is probable that the population
of the tribe never exceeded: 3,500 souls. When first known to history, i.
e. in 1650, the Sauk and Foxes together numbered probably 6,500 (Sauk
3,500, Foxes 3,000). Perrot, writing in the first quarter of the 18th
century, says that the Potawatomi, the Sauk, and the Foxes composed a body
of more than 1,000 warriors.
The principal estimates of the Sauk alone are: 750
persons in 1736; 1,000 (1759); 2,000 (1766); 2,250 (1783); 2,850 (1810);
4,800(Beltrami, 1825); and 2,500 (1834). The two tribes together have been
estimated at 3,000 (1820); 6,400 (1825); 5,300 (1834); 5,000 (1837). The
estimates of the combined tribes indicate that the Foxes (q. v.) were the
more numerous, but these appear to be incorrect.
In 1885 the two tribes had a total population of about
930, of whom 457 were in Indian Territory, 380 (who claimed to be Foxes
only) were at Tama, Iowa, and 87 in southeast Nebraska; in addition there
were a few at the various Indian schools. The Report of the Commissioner
of Indian Affairs for 1909 gives 352 persons (almost all Foxes) at the
Sauk and Fox agency, Iowa, 536 (chiefly Sauk) at the Sank and Fox agency
in Oklahoma, and 87 Sauk and Foxes (chiefly Sauk) in Kansas, a total Sauk
and Fox population of 975.
For more detailed information
concerning the many petty wars, alliances, and migrations of the Sauk and
their interrelations with the French and neighboring Indian tribes,
consult Bacqueville de Ia Potherie, Histoire de L'Amérique
Septentrionale, 1753; Perrot, Mémoire
sur les Mœnrs, Coustumes et Relligion
des Sauvages de l'Amérique
Septentrionale, 1864; Jesuit Relations, I-II, 1858, also Thwaites edition,
I-LXXXIII,1896-1901; the Collections of the State Historical Society of
Wisconsin; Laverdière,
Œuvres de Champlain, 1870; Sagard
Theodat, Histoire du Canada, I-IV, 1866; Sagard Theodat, Voyage du Pays
des Hurons, I-II, 1865.
