War-Trail’s End
Though the slippery Black Hawk escaped from the pale-face trap at
Wisconsin Heights, that hard-fought battle really marked the end of the
Sac uprising. After fording the broad Wisconsin River, the desperate
Sac band, now destitute of food and ammunition, split into three
smaller groups.
One band floated down the river on crudely improvised rafts, and was
speedily taken. Another party fled northward to an almost inaccessible
canyon, known to the Indians as Neeh-ah-ke-coonah-er-ah, “where the
rocks strike together.” Here they were tracked down and either killed
or captured by the vengeful whites.
The third, and larger, band, under Black Hawk himself, pushed westward
through a rugged and forbidding wilderness, striving for the distant
Mississippi,--beyond which they hoped for safety. Pursuit of this band
was given over to the forces of General Atkinson (White Beaver), who
had now arrived on the scene, too late to take part in the battle of
the heights.
Although the difficulties of travel were great, swamps and turbulent
streams being frequently encountered among the steep, thickly-wooded
hills, these fresh troops pressed on feverishly. They found Black
Hawk’s pathway strewn with the bodies of dead Sacs, who had died of
wounds and starvation, and there were constant evidences that the
fleeing savages were eating the bark of trees and the sparse flesh of
their fagged-out ponies to sustain life.
Finally, on the first of August, the Hawk and his sadly-depleted and
almost starving band reached the Mississippi at the mouth of the Bad
Axe River, one of its smallest eastern tributaries. Here the redskins
tried to cross, using a few canoes and rude rafts. Some were killed by
canister-shot from an army gunboat, “The Warrior,” which happened to
be on the spot. Others, including Black Hawk himself, surrendered to
the White Beaver’s soldiers, now arriving after their headlong pursuit.
Still other Sacs, who managed to cross the great river, were largely
taken captive or scalped by their hereditary enemies, the fierce Sioux
tribesmen.
Thus, out of nearly one thousand Sacs whom the Hawk had led into the
Illinois country in April, barely two hundred survived to return to the
Ioway Territory that they had left on their ill-fated foray.
As for Black Hawk, after being imprisoned for some months at Fortress
Monroe in far-off Virginia, he was taken to Washington, where he saw
the Great White Father. Following this, he was conducted on a tour
of the principal cities of the eastern seaboard, so that he would be
impressed with the might of the whites and take the story of that might
back to his own people.
Afterward, he was allowed to retire to a small reservation, set apart
for him and the remnant of his tribe on the Des Moines River, in the
heart of the Ioway country. The aged warrior, with the weight of over
seventy years on his whitened head, finally departed this life on the
third of October, 1838, at that place. His grave was dug on the nearby
prairies, the rich prairies that he had fought so vainly to keep as the
sole domain of the red race.
THE END
Transcriber’s Note:
Punctuation has been standardised. Both Kaintock and Kaintuck, and
hyphenation and spelling have been retained as they appear in the
printed publication except as indicated below:
Page 13
almost the festive apearance _changed to_
almost the festive appearance
Page 57
down the gantlet _changed to_
down the gauntlet
Page 60
led off in a north-westernly _changed to_
led off in a north-westerly
Page 67
yellow lamplight shown from _changed to_
yellow lamplight shone from
Page 70
in a fringed buskskin suit _changed to_
in a fringed buckskin suit
Page 100
that’s Dixon’ place _changed to_
that’s Dixon’s place
Page 112
throw down the gantlet _changed to_
throw down the gauntlet
Page 117
who had sworn his venegeance _changed to_
who had sworn his vengeance
Page 121
threats against all-concerned _changed to_
threats against all concerned
Page 122
I dare say that anyone of them _changed to_
I dare say that any one of them
Page 128
scudding madly for Dixon’s ferry _changed to_
scudding madly for Dixon’s Ferry
Page 131
the deserted, Pat Fagan, whose _changed to_
the deserter, Pat Fagan, whose
Page 184
Looks like were getting into _changed to_
Looks like we’re getting into
Page 195
erected a protecting breastworks of logs _changed to_
erected a protecting breastwork of logs
Page 208
indentifying the owner _changed to_
identifying the owner
Page 216
War-trail’s End _changed to_
War-Trail’s End
Page 218
from the summmit _changed to_
from the summit