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Black Hawk: An Autobiography

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The last "Indian War" in Illinois occurred in 1832 when a small band of Sauk refused under the leadership of the warrior Black Hawk to abandon their village (located under a subdivision of the present Rock Island, Illinois). They wandered up the Rock River, fighting contingents of regular army and state militia (a young Abraham Lincoln served several stints as a volunteer but saw no fighting; a young Jefferson Davis played a role in the last phases of the conflict), slipped into Wisconsin, and were finally defeated in a brutal massacre of men, women, and children on the banks of the Mississippi. Black Hawk surrendered and was taken East to meet President Jackson. After a short term in confinement, he and his companions were taken on a tour of the East Coast, an effort by the United States government to impress him with the young nation's overwhelming superiority in numbers and technology. The plan worked, by Black Hawk's own testimony, and when he returned to the Midwest he lived out the rest of his life in obscurity in a village in Iowa. He never saw his home again.
The origins of the autobiography published under Black Hawk's name has generated controversy. It was dictated to a half Native American interpreter, Antoine Le Claire, who rendered it into English, then edited by an Illinois newspaperman named John B. Patterson, who put it into publishable form. Both men swore that the result was faithful to Black Hawk's words, but the skeptical reader may be permitted some doubt; the language is clearly that of the period (surely Patterson's work), and Black Hawk himself complains on at least one occasion that his interpreter's grasp of the Sauk language did not suffice to translate a flowery speech. So what we have here, while no doubt in general faithful to Black Hawk's intentions and life story, cannot be his ipsissima verba. (It is a pity, given these doubts, that the editor of the volume, who has otherwise done an admirable job of annotation and commentary, did not compare the language of the preface, which records Black Hawk's own Sauk, with that of the text as a whole.)
Despite these doubts, there can be no question that the Autobiography affords us an extraordinary opportunity to see the impact of midwestern expansion on the native population from their own point of view, and to obtain direct access -- even if it has been mediated somewhat for non-native consumption -- into the social world of a people soon to vanish. The war itself is somewhat of an anti-climax, and deeply sad, doomed as resistance clearly was from the beginning. It is rather the self-presentation of a proud, successful Sauk warrior, endowed with considerable facilities of self-reflection and honesty, that make this book a treasure that every American should read.

I teach college history. This is a great book, but this particular edition is awful, cheap, typo-ridden, terrible. Students complained. We will never use it again. Be sure you get a real edition from a real publisher. Uch.

As a college student from the blackhawk area, I found this book captivating. Really written for any age or education level, I think anyone and everyone should read it. A heroic story of a real man, the book is a beautiful journey through history. The story some details of Black Hawk's life before the war and describes the events behind the wars and his interpretation of them well. I would recomend this to anyone from junior high up and definatly anyone from Rock Island or the surrounding areas.

Initially I purchased this book as a required course reading,and we know how exciting those kinds of books can be :-), but after reading it I found it very interesting and informative. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in American History in relation to Native Americans

I live in the Black Hawk area also, and everytime I read of this man, I get more respect for his cause. His tribe was cheated out of vast lands for a pittance. When he protested this cheating, he was told to move his ancestral village and go across the river. When he protested this, the government moved troops against him. When he wanted to surrender, they shot his braves who waved a white flag. Who cheated who here. It seems that the Indians were cheated of their inheritance and could not even protest this to the government. He was brave in battle and surrendered when he had to due to the murder of his women and children. He was taken captive and shown to gawking Easterners. He put a brave face on everything and accepted his lot. No wonder the military named its impressive helicopter after him.

This is a nice read on a brave and courageous man. Even though he was defeated, he never lost his pride in his ancestry. A true warrior and hero for everyone.