Sinsinawa Mound raid The Sinsinawa Mound raid occurred on June 29 , 1832 , near the Sinsinawa mining settlement in Michigan Territory ( present - day Grant County , Wisconsin in the United States ) . This incident , part of the Black Hawk War , resulted in the deaths of two men ; a third man survived by seeking cover in a nearby blockhouse . In the aftermath of the raid , Captain James W . Stephenson set out to pursue the attackers — a straggling band of Sauk Native Americans — but lost their trail at the Mississippi River . The attack occurred in the same week as other skirmishes and raids , and as a result helped contribute to the growing fear in the region . The raid caused the residents of nearby Platteville to consider fleeing their settlement . 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 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 . Angered by the loss of his birthplace , between 1830 – 31 Black Hawk led a number of incursions across the Mississippi River into Illinois , but was persuaded each time to return west 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 1 , 000 warriors and non - combatants into Illinois . Finding no allies , he attempted to return across the Mississippi ( to present - day Iowa ) , but the undisciplined Illinois Militia ' s actions led to the Battle of Stillman ' s Run . A number of other engagements followed , and the militia of Michigan Territory and the state of Illinois were mobilized to hunt down Black Hawk ' s band . The conflict became known as the Black Hawk War . The period between Stillman ' s Run and the raid at Sinsinawa Mound was filled with war - related activity . A series of attacks at Buffalo Grove , the Plum River settlement , Fort Blue Mounds and the war ' s most famous incident , the Indian Creek massacre , all took place between mid - May and late June 1832 . The week before the Battle of Apple River Fort ( on June 24 ) was an important turning point for the settlers : between June 16 and 18 two key battles , one at Waddams Grove and the other at Horseshoe Bend , played a role in changing public perception about the militia after its defeat at Stillman ' s Run . The Battle of Apple River Fort occurred five days before the Sinsinawa Mound raid ; the fight was a 45 minute gun battle between defenders garrisoned inside Apple River Fort and Sauk and Fox warriors led by Chief Black Hawk himself . Prelude . George W . Jones , who would later become a U . S . Senator from Iowa , arrived in the Sinsinawa Mound area in 1827 , and in 1828 established a mining settlement there . The first structure at the settlement was Jones ' s own log cabin , built during the spring of 1828 in two days . The cabin measured 49 feet ( 14 . 9 m ) by 17 feet ( 5 . 2 m ) and each room had one door and one window . When the Black Hawk War began four years later he also built a small fort at the site . The remains of the fort , one of many constructed in the region to protect local residents , are said to still stand at the entrance to the Sinsinawa Dominican complex . One of the men who assisted Jones in building the fort ' s blockhouse was Enoch Robinson , a soldier who later helped bury the victims of the Sinsinawa Mound raid . At the time of the attack Jones was with Henry Dodge ' s militia volunteers , on the way to meet overall commander General Henry Atkinson at Lake Koshkonong , then a marsh region . Attack . On June 29 , 1832 , what was probably a small band of Sauk attacked three men working in a cornfield at the Jones mining settlement near Sinsinawa Mound . The Sauk took up a position directly between the settlers and their weapons . Two of the men — James Boxley and John Thompson — were killed by the raiding party ; their badly mutilated bodies were later recovered . The third , an unidentified man , made a run for Jones blockhouse and survived the attack . The raiders were most likely a group of stragglers from the main body of the British Band , which was moving toward the Rock River with Chief Black Hawk . Aftermath . When news of the raid reached Galena , Illinois , Captain James W . Stephenson set out with thirty soldiers to pursue the raiding party . Arriving at Sinsinawa Mound , they buried the two " most shockingly mutilated " settlers there ; both Thompson and Boxley had been scalped and Thompson ' s heart had been removed . Stephenson then followed the Sauk trail to the Mississippi River where it went cold , the raiders having apparently crossed the river . Stephenson ' s party returned to Galena empty handed . Henry Dodge ordered the various elements of the militia to rendezvous at Fort Hamilton to eventually join General Henry Atkinson near present - day Madison , Wisconsin . When word of the attack at Sinsinawa Mound reached George W . Jones he left the volunteers under the command of Dodge and returned to the settlement at the mound . The attack at Sinsinawa Mound , compounded by other incidents around the region , helped contribute to the fear gripping the settlers . The people of Platteville , in present - day Wisconsin , contemplated fleeing to Galena , about 25 miles ( 40 km ) south , as a direct result of the Sinsinawa Mound raid . Colonel Dodge dispatched one of his men , Frederick Hollman , to Platteville to reassure its nervous residents . However , by the time Hollman arrived the settlers had already been informed that the local Native American Ho - Chunk tribesmen were friendly . This and the subsequent delivery of promised supplies from Galena further placated Platteville ' s residents , and the threatened exodus was called off .