Sauk Leader. Born at Saukenuk, Illinois, he was not one of the Sauk nation's hereditary civil chiefs, but he came to status by leading war parties as a young man. During the War of 1812, he fought on the side of the British and led a band of Sauk and Fox warriors in the Black Hawk War of 1832. After the war, he was captured and taken to Washington D.C. where he toured the east, met President Andrew Jackson, Secretary of War, Lewis Cass, and left behind an enduring legacy through many tributes. He died at age 70 in Iowaville, Davis County, Iowa, near Des Moines,Polk County, Iowa.
After his death James Turner, a local dentist, stole his corpse, boiled off the flesh in a hog-scalding kettle, and prepared to exhibit the skeleton. Iowa Territory Governor, Robert Lucas, ordered the remains returned, and with the permission of Black Hawk's sons, were held by the Burlington Geological and Historical Society. A fire destroyed both office and bones in 1855. In his honor, a bronze plaque was placed in the Iowaville Cemetery, Selma, Iowa.
Sauk Leader. Born at Saukenuk, Illinois, he was not one of the Sauk nation's hereditary civil chiefs, but he came to status by leading war parties as a young man. During the War of 1812, he fought on the side of the British and led a band of Sauk and Fox warriors in the Black Hawk War of 1832. After the war, he was captured and taken to Washington D.C. where he toured the east, met President Andrew Jackson, Secretary of War, Lewis Cass, and left behind an enduring legacy through many tributes. He died at age 70 in Iowaville, Davis County, Iowa, near Des Moines,Polk County, Iowa.
After his death James Turner, a local dentist, stole his corpse, boiled off the flesh in a hog-scalding kettle, and prepared to exhibit the skeleton. Iowa Territory Governor, Robert Lucas, ordered the remains returned, and with the permission of Black Hawk's sons, were held by the Burlington Geological and Historical Society. A fire destroyed both office and bones in 1855. In his honor, a bronze plaque was placed in the Iowaville Cemetery, Selma, Iowa.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
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