Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1909-09-22
EXTRACTS FROM THE AuToBl
oGRAPHY OF BLACK HAWK

: sht old age upon me and can
Xpect to survive many moons,
Before l set out on my journey to
the land of my fathers l have de-
termined to give my motives and reas
ons for my former hosti!ities to the
whites, and to vindicate my character
from Misrepresentation.
am now an obscure member of a
nation that formerly honored and re.
spected my opinions. The pathway
to glory is rough, and many gloomy
hours may obscure it. May the Great
Spirit shed light on yours, and that
you may never experience the humil.
ity that the power of the American
government has reduced me to, .is
the wish of him who, in his native
forests, was once as proud and bold
as yourself.
On my next and last visit to our
Spanish father (at st. Louis) / dis
covered on landing that all was not
right. Every countenance seemed
sad and gloomy. inquired the cause
and was informed that the Americans
were coming to take possession of
their town and country, and that we
were to lose our Spanish father This
news made me and my band exceed
ingly sad, because we had always
heard bad accounts Of the Americans
from the Indians, who had lived near
them. We were very sorry to lose
our Spanish father, who had always
treated us with great friendship.
l had not yet discovered one good
trait In the character of he Ameri-
cans who had come to the country.
They made fair promises, but never
fulfilled them, while the British made
but few, and we could always rely
Implicitly on their word,
l can not describe their meeting
and parting SO as to be understood
by the whites, as 1T appears that
their feelings are acted upon by GER
tain rules laid down by their preach
ers, while ours are governed by the
monitor within us.
| Why did the Great Spirit ever send
the whites to Rock Island to drive us
from our home and introduce among
US poisonous liquors, disease and
death? They should have remained
in the land the Great Spirit allotted
them.
The Americans fought well and
drove us back with considerable loss.
was greatly surprised at this, as
l had been told that the Americans
would not fight
The British had taken many pris.
oners and the Indians We're killing
them. Immediately put a stop to
lit, as l never thought it brave but
base and cowardly to kill an unarmet
and helpless foe.
/ 1 explained to my people the man
ner in which the British and Ameri
cans fought. Instead of stealing up.
on each other and taking every ad
vantage to kill the enemy and save
their own people as we do, which
with us is considered good policy il
a war chief, they march out in ope1
daylight and fight regardless of the
number of warriors they may lose
After the battle is over they retire
to feast and drink wine as If nothing
had happened. After which they max
statement in writing of what the,
have done, each party claiming th'
victory, and neither giving an ac
count of half the number that hav'
been killed ON their side. They al
fought like braves, but would not d'
to lead a party with us. Our maxim
is: Kill the enemy and save ou
own men, Those chiefs will do t.
paddle canoe but not to steer 1t
The Americans can shoot better thai
the British, but their soldiers wer
not so we'll clothed, nor SO well pre-
vided for.
1t is not customary for us to sa
much about our women, as they ger
orally perform their part cheerful
and never interfere with business bt
longing to the men.
This is the only wife 1 ever ha
or ever will have. She is a goo
woman, and teaches my boys to b
brave.
distinctly saw two little whit
boys concealing themselves in til
underbrush. thought of my ow
children, and passed on without no
icing them.
next found box full of sma
3 bottles and packages, which appea
ed to be bad medicine also. such
! the medicine men kill the white pc
pie with when they are sick. TIL
threw into the river.
What do you know of the ma
. ners, the laws, and the customs
the white people. They might b'
our bodies for dissection, and '
would touch the goose quill to co
firm it and not know what we we
doing. This was the case with I
and my people in touching the goo
quill the first time.
We can only Judge of what