The San Francisco call., 1896-12-13

sort Tor the young people OF the tribes. 1t
was there they had their games and
dances. They felt that they had found
the most beautiful and desirable spot they
had ever seen, and determined never to
leave 1T. After their harvests had been
secured and the hunters had returned
laden with the spoils OF the chase they
gave themselves up TO their favorite
amusements. They raised corns, beans,
squashes and other vegetables, and cached
them for win ter use. A deep hole was dug
In the ground, the vegetables were placed
therein and covered with earth and bark.
Frequently the contents of the cache were
stolen by their enemies by piercing the
ground with their spears.
Black Hawk was So years old when the
first American appeared. The Americans
had taken possession of the country about
st. Louis. The news of this filled the
tribe with apprehension, for, as Black
Hawk naively says, 1--WE had always had
accounts of the Americans who lived ne ar
the Indians"
The tribes frequently visited st. Louis
to see person in authority whom he calls
'our Spanish father" w6o always treated
them well and gave them provisions. AS
this account is taken from Black Hawk S
narrative, it is not known who was the
Spanish father referred to. Subse-
quently he refers to "our American father"
at ST. Louis.
The possessions of the Sacs and Foxes
extended as far as Peoria, and thence to
strike Ouisconsin River eighty miles from
its mouth down the river to the Missis-
sippi. They owned the whole of lows.
Colonel Davenport, who was an English
trader with the Indians, says: "As near
ly as could ascertain these tribes came
from Canada-lrom region near Mon
treat" They were governed by two sets
of chiefs-civil and war chiefs. The civil
chiefs settled troubles between tribes
Black Hawk and Keokuk were the promi-
nent war hiefs.
Black Hawk was determined to stay in
his village Notwithstanding all the land
had been ceded to the Government of the
United States by the treaty OF 1894. But
as the white people were coming in
great mum bers. seeing the beauty and
desirableness of this land so fair and so
fertile, they were continually encroaching
upon the domain of the indians. 1t will
be remem bered that there was a clause
in the treaty which allowed the tribes
to remain in their homes as long as the
land was in the possession of the
Government; but as the white people
came they settled wherever they pleased,
blowing up the fields which the indians
had planted and appropriating the land
to their own uses.
1t was determined to move the Indians,
but Black Hawk. profoundly impressed
mined TO await the arrival of the soldiers,
which had been threatened, with their
great war chief" Accordingly, when
this parsonage arrived, a great council
was held. Black Hawk and his chiefs lis
tened to the speech made by General
Gains, ''the war chief" warning them
that they had been told to leave the coun-
try and go west of the Mississippi. Black
Hawk replied:
Owe have never sold our country; we
have never received any annuities from
our American father, and we are deter
mined to hold on to our village" The
war chief exclaimed:
"Who is Black Hawk? Who is Black
Hawk?" He replied:
II am Sacl My forefather was Sac |!
All the nations call me a Sacr' This say
age nobleman of the forest thought this
enough, but was told that the general
neither came to beg nor to hire them to
leave their village.
- 81 will remove you peaceably if l can,
forcibly if l mustl 1 will give you two
days in which to remove" said the gen.