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| Fort Armstrong at Rock Island. |
In the beginning, there was Rock Island, situated in the middle of the Mississippi River between what would become and Iowa and Illinois. The Indians believed a good spirit inhabited the cave at the island’s edge. “He was white, with large wings like a swan’s,” said Black Hawk, “but ten times larger.”
The Sac and Fox used the island as a garden in the summer. They gathered
strawberries, blackberries, plums, apples, and various nuts. Fish were
abundant. They would often sit along its shores, catching catfish, carp,
crappies, and perch. All the time, they were careful not to disturb the island’s
spirit.
Saukenuk, the main village of the Sacs, stood opposite the north side of
the island, at the foot of the rapids between the Rock River and the
Mississippi.[i] Behind it sat a bluff
where the tribe’s cornfields ran parallel to the Mississippi. The Fox village
stood three miles away, opposite the lower end of the island.
It was a virtual paradise that satisfied all the Indian’s needs.
Until…
The Eighth United States Infantry, under the command of Colonel R. C.
Nichols, set off from St. Louis in September 1815 with orders to build a fort
at or near Rock Island.
The expedition wintered at the mouth of the Des Moines River, about 140
miles from their destination. The troops constructed crude huts to keep warm
that winter and named the post “Cantonment Davis.” The following year, Fort
Edwards[ii]
was built in present-day Warsaw, Illinois. Colonel Nichols was arrested for an
undisclosed reason and sent to Nashville during the winter. Colonel William
Lawrence assumed command.
Brigadier-General Thomas Smith arrived at the cantonment with a regiment
of riflemen in April 1816 and took charge of the expedition. They arrived at
Rock Island on May 10, 1816, and commenced building Fort Armstrong.
Smith only stayed long enough to build an abatis to protect the troops.
When that was done, he headed up the river to reoccupy Fort Shelby at Prairie
du Chien and to build another fort at the Falls of St. Anthony (now Fort
Snelling).
The Eighth Infantry spent the better part of a year erecting Fort
Armstrong. “The interior of the fort was 400 square feet,” reported the Congressional
Serial Set. “The lower half of the walls were of stone and the upper half
of hewn timber. At three of the angles—the northeast, southeast, and
southwest—blockhouses were built, and these were provided with cannons. One
side of the square was occupied by the barracks and other buildings. These were
built of hewn timber.” The roofs sloped “inward as protection against their
being fired by the Indians.”[iii]
The Sac and Fox appeared friendly, but there were occasional scares. One
day, a small party of Indians came over to the island to dance and perform for
the troops. A few days later, a larger party of warriors came over while the
soldiers cut timber. They danced near the entrance to the camp, then tried to
make their way to the Colonel’s tent.
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| Chief Keokuk (from a drawing by George Catlin Letters & Notes. 1903) |
The Indians got the idea and left.[iv]
Living at the edge of the world was never easy or entirely safe. Major
Morrill Marston[v] voiced frequent concerns
about life at Fort Armstrong in 1820.[vi]
“I have had a hard time of it here this winter, in consequence of the
hostility of the Winnebago and the smallness of my command,” said Marston. “I
have been able to keep my own scalp on my head, but two of my poor fellows have
not been so fortunate. Yesterday Sergeant Blattenberger and Private Rigg were
shot, scalped, and otherwise mangled in a most shocking manner by a party of
that nation.”[vii]
Here’s another report of the two killings, possibly from a letter
written by Major Marston but unattributed.
“With the greatest sorrow, I must inform you of the fate of 2 of my
fellow soldiers, viz. Jno. [John] Blattenberger and [Clement] Atlee Rigg,
formerly both of Lancaster. On the 28th of last month [1820],[viii]
about 9 o’clock in the morning, they went out to cut tanners for the cannon.
They were surprised by a strolling party of the Winnebago Indians.”
The soldiers found them about a mile from the fort, “murdered and
scalped in the most horrid manner. We conveyed them to the fort when a
detachment of infantry was immediately ordered out in pursuit of the Indians.
Yet, none of them have been discovered.”[ix]
Two Winnebago warriors named Che-Wa-Cha-Rah and
Who-Rah-Jin-Kah were later caught and tried for the murders.
Jacob Hough, a soldier at the fort, testified that Blattenberger and
Riggs went out to cut timber for ramrods. When they had not returned by
evening, the alarm was sounded. The following day, Hough and Andrew Peeling searched
for them. They found the soldier’s bodies about three-fourths of a mile from
the fort. “They were shot, scalped, and one of them (Blottenberger) had been
cut in the left side with an ax.”[x]
Je-Ro-Gha, a Winnebago warrior, testified he was with the two prisoners
near Fort Armstrong that morning. “The warriors crept up within eight to ten
yards and fired. They ran up to the soldiers, scalped, and he believes struck
one of them with an ax.”[xi]
The all-white jury deliberated for a half-hour before returning a guilty
verdict. Che-Wa-Cha-Rah and Who-Rah-Jin-Kah were sentenced to be hung by the
neck until dead. The two warriors were detained in the Belleville jail, pending
their execution. The Edwardsville Spectator said the warriors were in
perfect health when sent there. However, they were in such bad shape a short
time later that Colonel Leavenworth began an investigation.
Che-Wa-Cha-Rah and Who-Rah-Jin-Kah said they had no fire and no bedding
but were forced to sleep on the cold floor with only a blanket to keep warm.
Their daily ration was a piece of cornbread, the size of a small biscuit and
half that of meat. At one time, they received no food or water for three days.
The paper didn’t report Leavenworth’s finding. They did say that when
the Winnebago chief, Cah-Rah-Mah-Ree, came to visit his warriors, he could not
believe how they were treated. I came here to see justice,” said the old chief,
“but I find none.” He walked away in disgust.[xii]
[i]
It’s uncertain where the name Saukenuk came from. In 1837, artist George Catlin
referred to the village as Saug-e-nug. Perry Armstrong is thought to be the
first to use the name Saukenuk in his book, The Sauks and the Black Hawk War
published in 1887. (Historic Rock Island County. 1908. P. 11)
[ii]
Fort Edwards was named for Ninian Edwards, who served as governor of the
Illinois Territory from 1809 to 1819. In October 1812, Edwards gathered 350
mounted rangers and burned several Kickapoo villages along the Sangamon River,
then advanced on the tribes around Peoria Lake. Unfortunately, several of the
villages he attacked were friendly to the Americans.
[iii]
Congressional Serial Set. 1878. P. 43-44.
[iv]
Most of the information for this section was taken from the Congressional
Serial Set. 1878. P. 42-46.
[v]
Born Micajah, Marston changed his name to Morrill in 1819. He was commissioned
as a first lieutenant at the outbreak of the War of 1812. The following year in
1813, Marston was promoted to captain. He was breveted a major for his
gallantry in the defense of Fort Erie. When the war ended, Marston was
transferred to Prairie du Chien, then to Fort Armstrong as commandant.
(Historical Collections of the Essex Institute. 1861. Vol. III. P. 182)
[vi]
Stephen Kearny visited Fort Armstrong in 1820. He noted it was “capable of
resisting any attack from Indians.” The Indians there were the “most warlike
and powerful on the river.” Kearny said the Sacs could muster 1,000 warriors
and “considered the most efficient of any Indian warriors, being better armed,
mounted and equipped.”
[viii]
In May, a soldier named Jacob Hough testified the attack occurred on the
morning of March 21. Edwardsville Spectator. May 22,
1821.
[x]
Edwardsville Spectator. May 22, 1821.
[xi]
Edwardsville Spectator. May 22, 1821.
[xii]
Edwardsville Spectator. May 22, 1821.
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