The Great Native American Chiefs

Black Hawk (1767-1838)

Black Hawk, chief of the Sauk, was born in 1767 in northwestern Illinois, where he gained early fame for the expeditions he led against the Cherokee and Osage tribes. In the War of 1812 Black Hawk took sides with the British, after repudiating a treaty in which his people lost all their lands east of the Mississippi River. After the war, the defeated Black hawk led his people back to the West, where he eventually tried to form a confederation of indians against the white invaders; Black Hawk's War of 1832 resulted in a great slaughter of the tribes. Finally Black Hawk was imprisoned, during which time he wrote his autobiography, a classic account of the white-Indian confrontations. He died in 1838 at the age of 71.

Source: Famous Native American Leaders - Dover Press