Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 1.djvu/132



river. More than three hundred Indians were thus massacred and the slaughter was dignified by the name of the “battle of Bad Axe.”  Black Hawk and a few of the people escaped but were captured by treacherous Indians, delivered up to Colonel Zachary Taylor and by him sent to Jefferson Barracks near St. Louis. Thus ended the Black Hawk war in which the whites lost about two hundred killed, the Indians about five hundred men, women and children. The cost to our government was about $2,000,000.

Black Hawk was taken by his captors to Washington in 1833, and when presented to General Jackson, he stood unawed before the President, remarking, “I am a man, you are only another.” He then addressed the President as follows:

“We did not expect to conquer the whites. They had too many men. I took up the hatchet to avenge injuries my people could no longer endure. Had I borne them longer without striking my people would have said Black Hawk is a squaw; he is too old to be our chief; he is no Sac. These reflections caused me to raise the war-whoop. The result is known to you. I say no more.”

The prisoners were taken to Fortress Monroe where they were kept until the 4th of June, when they were released by order of the President. They were then conducted by Major Garland, of the United States Army, through several of the large cities to have impressed upon them the great power of the nation. Crowds of people gathered to see the famous Sac chieftain and his braves. As they were conveyed down the Mississippi River to Fort Armstrong and along the shores of their old homes and hunting grounds, the dauntless old chief sat with bowed head. The memory of the power and possessions of his race in former years came over him as he looked for the last time upon the familiar shores, woods and bluffs. Here he had reigned over the most powerful tribes of the west. Here his father had ruled before him. Here he had dwelt in happiness from boyhood. Here he had