Black Hawk

Black Hawk (1767–1838), Native American leader of the Sauk tribe, who opposed the movement of European settlers westward to Illinois. A treaty had been signed by the Sauk and Fox tribes in 1804 ceding lands east of the Mississippi River to the United States, but Black Hawk declared that the Sauk had been tricked and that the contract was invalid. In 1832, he and his warriors fought to regain their land. Black Hawk and his 2 sons were captured in 1833 and moved to a reservation near Fort Des Moines.

See also: Indian wars.