Indian Creek massacre
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Indian Creek massacre occurred on May 21, 1832 when a group of settlers living 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Ottawa, Illinois, United States, along Indian Creek, were attacked by a party of Native Americans. The massacre likely resulted from a local settler's refusal to remove a dam which jeopardized a key food source for a nearby Potawatomi village[1], violating Native American water rights. A band of between 20 and 40 Potawatomi and three Sauk warriors attacked the cabin site. Fifteen settlers, including women and children, were massacred at the site near the present-day border of LaSalle and DeKalb Counties. Several people escaped the massacre and two young women were kidnapped by the raiders to be released about two weeks later unharmed.
In the aftermath of the massacre white settlers fled their homes for the safety of frontier forts and the protection of the militia. The Indian Creek massacre was later used as justification when U.S. soldiers and militia massacred many in Black Hawk's band at the Battle of Bad Axe. The events at Indian Creek were peripherally related to the Black Hawk War and are seen as an act of personal revenge that was not sanctioned by Black Hawk. Though there are a number of historical discrepancies in the details surrounding the events at Indian Creek, historians have generally agreed on the contentious points. Today, the site of the massacre is marked by a memorial in northern LaSalle County.
Contents |
[edit] Background
As a consequence of an 1804 treaty between the Governor of Indiana Territory and a group of Sauk and Fox leaders regarding land settlement, the Sauk and Fox tribes vacated their lands in Illinois and moved west of the Mississippi in 1828. However, Sauk Chief Black Hawk and others disputed the treaty, claiming that the full tribal councils had not been consulted, nor did those representing the tribes have authorization to cede lands.[2] Angered by the loss of his birthplace, between 1830–31 Black Hawk led a number of incursions across the Mississippi River, but was persuaded to return west each time without bloodshed. In April 1832, encouraged by promises of alliance with other tribes and the British, he again moved his so-called "British Band" of around 1000 warriors and non-combatants into Illinois.[2] Finding no allies, he attempted to return to Iowa, but the undisciplined Illinois militia's actions led to the Battle of Stillman's Run.[3] A number of other engagements followed, and the militias of Michigan Territory and Illinois were mobilized to hunt down Black Hawk's Band. The conflict became known as the Black Hawk War.
[edit] Prelude
1.jpg/140px-Shabbona_(chief)1.jpg)
The attack at Indian Creek was most likely spurred by the provocations of a settler named William Davis.[1] Davis was a blacksmith and a mill operator and had dammed Indian Creek, a vital source of food to a nearby Potawatomi village. Specifically, Davis had raised the ire of Keewasee, a young Potawatomi who lived in the village. Keewasee requested Davis remove the dam but his pleas went unheeded and were contemptuously denied.[4] Before Black Hawk crossed the Mississippi River on April 5, 1832, Keewasee had tried to tear down the Davis dam but was caught while doing so and beaten by Davis with a hickory stick.[1] At the same time, the Black Hawk War had erupted in Illinois and the first battle at Stillman's Run proved to be a victory for Black Hawk's band. This event may have also encouraged the assault at Indian Creek.[4]
In the days preceding the massacre, Black Hawk met with Potawatomi chiefs Shabbona, Waubonsee and others in an attempt to persuade them to join his "British Band" of Sauk and Fox warriors. "Join me," Black Hawk said, "and our warriors will number like the trees in the forests." To which Shabbona replied, "that is true, but the white men number like the leaves on those trees."[1] On May 16, 1832 Shabbona, knowing he could not control all of his people (the tribe he was closely intermingled and married into), rode across northern Illinois to warn the settlers of impending danger. It is recorded that during this ride Shabbona warned Davis and the others at his settlement of the danger.[1] After the battle at Stillman's Run, rumors of an attack on white settlers became widespread. The settlement at the creek had ample cause to evacuate, but at the urging of Davis the inhabitants ignored the warning and opted to stay.[4]
Present from the Davis family at the Indian Creek site the day of the massacre were William Davis, his wife and six children, including James Davis and William Davis, Jr.[1] Also present were William Pettigrew, his wife and two children, William Hall, his wife, three daughters (including Rachel and Sylvia) and three sons, and Henry George, J.H. Henderson, and William Robert Norris.[1][4] The band of Potawatomi that attacked the Davis settlement at Indian Creek was led by Keewasee, who recruited members from Shabbona's tribe who were angry with the chief for failing to join Black Hawk. Among these were a number of young braves including Comee and Taquawee; another member of Keewasee's group, Mahokee, was Black Hawk's brother-in-law, who had joined the group inadvertently.[1]
[edit] Massacre
|
Indian Creek
Michigan Territory (Wisconsin)
Illinois
Unorganized
Territory (Iowa)  |
Map of Black Hawk War sites Battle (with name)  Fort / settlement  Native villageSymbols are wikilinked to article |
Between 20 and 40 Potawatomi and three Sauk, led by the notorious outlaw Mike Girty, attacked the Davis Indian Creek settlement on the afternoon of May 21, 1832.[1][5][6][7] It was late afternoon when the inhabitants at the settlement saw the group of Native American warriors, who may not have been connected with Black Hawk's band at all, approach the cabin, vault the fence and sprint forward to attack.[4][2] Most of the settlers were in or near the cabin, but J.H. Henderson and some of the older boys were working in the fields, and Norris was working in Davis' blacksmith shop.[4] The cabins were stormed and the inhabitants, including Mrs. Davis, Hall and Pettigrew along with several children, were killed. Davis and the other men could not reach the cabin in time to help the occupants but it is thought that Davis survived long enough to kill one of the raiders.[1] The entire massacre, which claimed 15 lives, took about 10 minutes to complete.
Little was said or known about the actual events of the massacre; most of what was written focused on what happened to the women and children.[8] Thomas Ford later recounted, while failing to describe the events of the massacre, that some of those involved in the massacre related to each other "with infernal glee how the women had squeaked like geese when they were run through the body with spears, or felt the sharp tomahawk enter their heads."[8] More was written on the mutilation of the dead bodies than other topics surrounding the events at Indian Creek. Twenty-three year old John Hall, a massacre survivor, later described the scene he witnessed when he returned there the next morning. He detailed bodies with their hearts cut out and others with lacerations too shocking to behold without "shuddering."[8]
Two young women, Rachel and Sylvia Hall, were taken prisoner and later released.[1][9] Several of those present, J.H. Henderson, William Davis, Jr. and the three Hall boys, were able to escape.[1] Henderson fled immediately and Davis fell into the creek, feigning a wound, and let the current carry him downstream to Ottawa, Illinois.[1] Another escapee, seven year old James Davis, was presumed dead and recorded as such in some accounts but he too survived the massacre.[5]
It is believed that the Potawatomi Native Americans who attacked, along with the three Sauk Indians, were the only ones responsible for the massacre.[4] There is no evidence that Black Hawk sanctioned the massacre and the violence at Indian Creek is seen as an act of personal revenge which was peripheral to the Black Hawk War.[9]
[edit] Kidnapping
 |
 |
|
|
Rachel Hall, shown in this pre-1904 photo, was kidnapped by Potawatomi raiders during the massacre.
|
Sylvia Hall, shown in this undated photo, was one of seven survivors of the Indian Creek massacre.
|
The prisoners ended up in the care of Black Hawk until they were ransomed. After the war, Black Hawk related that it was the three Sauk warriors with the Potawatomi who saved the Hall sisters' lives. Black Hawk recounted:
| “ | "They were brought to our encampment, and a messenger sent to the Winnebagoes, as they were friendly on both sides, to come and get them, and carry them to the whites. If these young men, belonging to my band, had not gone with the Pottowittomies (sic), the two young squaws would have shared the same fate as their friends." | ” |
Rachel and Sylvia Hall were held for 11 days. Most of the time was spent at Black Hawk's camp where they were treated well.[2] With the help of the Ho-Chunk, U.S. Indian Agent Henry Gratiot eventually paid a ransom for the girls of ten horses, wampum, and corn. The Hall sisters were released unharmed on June 1, 1832.[9][2]
[edit] Discrepancies
There are number of discrepancies found in accounts of the Indian Creek massacre, especially concerning the date, details surrounding the Hall kidnapping, and the number of victims. The date of the massacre, which historians generally agree occurred on May 21, 1832, was recorded by the Hall sisters as May 20 when they wrote down their account of the event in 1867. General Henry Atkinson, on the other hand, gave the date of the massacre as May 22 in a May 27 order he issued from Dixon's Ferry.[5]
Another historical discrepancy concerns the number of victims of the massacre. Some accounts, even modern-day accounts, give the number of dead as 16 while others state 15.[1][5] The discrepancy arose from the fact that James Davis, after the massacre, was missing and presumed dead. James escaped the attackers and thus survived the attack. The number of dead has been agreed upon at 15 by most accounts.[5]
Details surrounding the kidnapping of the Hall sisters are also convoluted. The girls' age is one point of contention; some sources assert that Rachel was 15 and Sylvia 17 at the time of the attack.[2][5] However, Sylvia Hall was born in February 1813 and her tombstone records indicated that she died on January 11, 1899 aged 85 years 10 months and 16 days. Thus, Rachel was 17 and Sylvia just over 19 years of age at the time of the massacre and kidnapping.[5]
[edit] Aftermath
The killings triggered mass hysteria in the white population nearby. People abandoned settlements and sought refuge inside frontier forts, such as Fort Dearborn in Chicago.[10] News of the massacre spread quickly around the nation and helped to spread fear of Black Hawk and his band of warriors.[1] The Indian Creek massacre was one of the most famous and well publicized incidents during the Black Hawk War.[9]
On May 21 or 22 the people in Chicago, including those who had fled there, dispatched a company of scouts to ascertain the situation in the area between Chicago and Ottawa, along the Chicago to Ottawa Trail. The detachment, under the command of former Illinois militia Brigadier General Jesse B. Brown, came upon the mangled remains of the 15 victims at Indian Creek on May 22. They buried the dead and continued to Ottawa where they reported their grisly discovery.[10]
As a result, the Illinois Militia used the event to draw more recruits from Illinois and Kentucky.[9] The war would end at the Battle of Bad Axe with the massacre of much of Black Hawk's "British Band;" the events at Indian Creek were used to justify the slaughter.[1] At Bad Axe, as Black Hawk and his delegates approached the steam boat Warrior, cries of "Remember Indian Creek!" were heard from the ship just before the ship's cannons opened fire on the Native Americans.[1]
After the war, three Potawatomi were charged with murder for the Indian Creek massacre and warrants were issued at the LaSalle County Courthouse for Keewasee, Taquawee and Comee. The charges were dropped when the Hall sisters could not identify the attackers; the war paint they wore during the attack disguised them enough to prevent positive identification.[4] In 1833 the Illinois General Assembly passed a law granting each of the Hall sisters 80 acres of land along the Illinois and Michigan Canal as compensation and recognition for the hardships they had endured.[6]
Today, a memorial marker with the names of those killed in the massacre is located in Shabbona Park in northern LaSalle County, west of Illinois Route 23. The marker was erected in 1905.[1]
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r McIntyre, Mac. "The Indian Creek Massacre," 2000, DeKalb County History, DeKalb County Online. Retrieved 5 August 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f Lewis, James. "The Black Hawk War of 1832," Abraham Lincoln Digitization Project, Northern Illinois University. Retrieved August 1, 2007.
- ^ "May 14: Black Hawk's Victory at the Battle of Stillman's Run," Historic Diaries: The Black Hawk War, Wisconsin State Historical Society. Retrieved 6 August 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Matile, Roger. "The Black Hawk War: Massacre at Indian Creek," Ledger-Sentinel (Oswego, Illinois), 31 May 2007. Retrieved 5 August 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f g Barton, Albert O. "Echoes of the Black Hawk War" Wisconsin Magazine Of History, Vol. 16 Issue 4 (1932-1933). Retrieved 5 August 2007.
- ^ a b "Document 8 – Donation of Land to Rachel Munson, A Former Indian Captive," Document: 11 May 1834, Illinois State Archives, Illinois Secretary of State. Retrieved 6 August 2007.
- ^ Thwaites, Reuben Gold. The Story of Wisconsin, (Google Books), D. Lothrop Company: 1890, p. 187. Retrieved 4 October 2007.
- ^ a b c Trask, Kerry A. The Black Hawk War: Battle for the Heart of America, (Google Books), Henry Holt: 2006, pp. 213-215, (ISBN 0805077588). Retrieved 6 August 2007.
- ^ a b c d e "May 21, Indian Creek, Ill.: Abduction of the Hall Sisters," Historic Diaries: The Black Hawk War, Wisconsin State Historical Society. Retrieved 5 August 2007.
- ^ a b Matile, Roger. "U.S Army, cholera mark end of Black Hawk War," Ledger-Sentinel (Oswego, Illinois), 14 June 2007. Retrieved 5 August 2007.
[edit] References
- Eby, Cecil. That Disgraceful Affair, The Black Hawk War, W.W. Norton and Company: New York, 1973, (ISBN 0393054845).
- Dowd, James Patrick. Massacre at Indian Creek, La Fox: Illinois, 2002.
[edit] See also
[edit] Further reading
- Scanlan, Charles M. Indian Creek Massacre and Captivity of Hall Girls, (PDF), Reic Publishing Company, Milwaukee: 1915. Retrieved 6 August 2007.
