Black Hawk was not among the prisoners, nor was his body found among the dead. He had left before the battle, old and tired and sick at heart. Whether he had simply given up on the war or was trying to lead part of Atkinson’s troops way from the Indian families is not clear. In any case, his people did not blame him for his absence. He had led them well, but the long march was over.

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After eluding the militia for a few weeks more, in late August, Black Hawk finally gave himself up at Prairie du Chien. Kept for a time in chains at Fort Armstrong near the much-lamented village of Saukenuk, he was eventually taken to Washington, where he had a brief audience with President Jackson. Old Hickory had originally intended to imprison Black Hawk at Fortress Monroe, Va, but he was so impressed with the old war chief that he gave him a ceremonial sword and sent him home, one good soldier honoring another.

Before leaving the white man’s world, Black Hawk toured the Eastern seaboard, where he was ogled and lionized by the public. A condition of his release was that he renounce any claims to leadership of the Sauk, that position going to the more pliable Keokuk.

Back home, Black Hawk dictated a bitter autobiography in 1933. In it, he gave his chief reason for fighting the whites. ‘My reason teaches me that land cannot be sold’ he said. ‘The Great Spirit gave it to his children to live upon. So long as they occupy and cultivate it they have the right to the soil. Nothing can be sold but such things as can be carried away.’

In time, Black Hawk would become something of a mascot in his new home near Burlingon, Iowa. He was generally treated as a respected citizen and often invited to listen to debates in the state assembly. In 1838, he died of an unspecified ailment called ‘bilious fever.’

Black Hawk remained something of a celebrity after his death. Curious white settlers invaded his tomb and stole his body. A local doctor boiled the bones clean, fleeing with his skeleton to start a touring exhibition. The governor of Iowa interceded and had the warrior’s remains returned to Burlington. In 1853, a fire finally put Black Hawk forever beyond the meddling of the white man.

The Suckers, Governor Reynolds, General Atkinson and other enemies have long since joined him in death, but Black Hawk the war leader had outlasted them all in memory. Wherever he is, the old Sauk must smile at the speed and sleekness of the U.S. Army’s current troop carrying helicopter that bears his name. On balance, it is not a bad epitaph.

This article was written by Robert B. Smith and originally published in the April 1991 issue of Wild West magazine.

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