99 S23A73 ARMSTRONG SUAK-h-NUK THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES SAUK-E-NUK; .A.NCIENT ClTY OF THE SAUKS. ITS LOCATION, CONSTRUCTION, POPULATION, GOVERNMENT, ANTIQUITV AND HOME LIFE. BLACK HAWK'S WATCH-TOWER AND LOVER'S TOMB. BY P, A. ARMSTRONG. ROCK ISLAND, ILL.: 1885. By permission of the author, Hon. F. A. Armstrong, of" Alorris, 111., -we publish in this form Chapter III of his forth- coming "History of the Black Hawk "War of 1831-S, together with the lives of Black HaVvk, Keokuk, Powesheik and Shaubenee," now ready for the printer. This chapter, as shown lay its headlines, is of special interest to the locality of Rook Island. His history -will contain thirty seven chapters, averaging about the length of this one. NER. ROCK ISLAND, !i.L Si 34 73 SAUK-E-NUK; 'Who has not heard of the Vale of Cashmere, With its roses, the brightest the earth ever gave; Its temples and grottoes, and fountains as clear As the love-lighted eyes that hung over their wave." LAI.LA ROOKH. ' AUKENUK, or Saukietovvn, nestled at the foot of the promontory on the peninsula, upon the north bank of Rock River, some three miles south of the present city of Rock Island, in Rock Island County, Illi- nois. This city, for it was such in every sense of the word, stood at the foot of the rapids of the lovely Rock River, which comes from the northeast, winding its course down through one of the most fertile countries in the world, like a silver thread in a groundwork of embossed green, beneath the shady boughs of great forest trees. Its banks were carpeted with wild roses, lillies, and a multitude of other wild flowers, whose sweet fragrance per- fumed each passing breeze and zephyr. Chiefly fed by springs, the waters of this river are pure and sparkling, and come jumping, tumbling and bound- ing over the well-worn rocks of the rapids, rushing on with a musical laugh to join the "Father of Waters," some two and a half miles below. From the frozen regions of the north came the majestic Mississippi with its world of waters, at race-horse speed her banks on either side, fringed and sheltered by lofty trees and towering mountains and bluff's, upon whose brows numerous rocks and ledges hung frowningly over, as if ready at every moment to break loose from restraint, and come tumbling down like an ava- lanche upon the place beneath ; grand old rocks that rested there from the time when Adam was created, and Eve made from his rib for a helpmate : rocks whose size, grandeur and position bear witness that no hand save that of Omnipotence could have made and placed them there, and an honor to Him who made them. This peninsula is a wonder-land. Its diversity of soil, togography, vege- tation, rocks, minerals, metals and water courses are such as around which 1968343 4 s UK-K-XrK, THE ANCIENT CITY, cluster the keenest interest of the geologist, mineralogist, metallurgist and student of nature, independent of the great events which have .transpired! here during the last three centuries. Here in this valley, rivalling in beauty the Vale of Cashmere and the shores of Lake Como, stood this ancient city of the Sauks, which at one time contained by actual enumeration eleven thousand active, energetic, in- dustrions and intelligent people; and here it had withstood the mutations- of time and season, and every attack from enemies without, and dissensions and plots within, for a century or more immediately preceding its destruc- tion in 1831, during all of which long period it was doubtless the Queen City of the West, and most populous one this side of the Allegheny mountains. It was regularly laid off into lots, blocks, streets and alleys, with two pub- lic squares or esplanades, and fortified by a brush palisade, with gates for entrance. It vt as a right angle in shape, with its point to the southeast, the east line being the longer, extending north and south along the base of the promontory the point of the angle resting on the bank of Rock River, with the shortest line running down that river, and the longer one towards the Mississippi. At the point of the angle, or southeast corner of the city, stood the lodge or hodenasate of the old chief, Black Hawk. Saukenuk was not a mere aggregation of wigwams and teepes, but a permanent Indian abode, composed of the large, bark-covered long houses, known as hoden- asates, ranging from thirty to one hundred feet in length, and sixteen to forty feet in width. Many of them were the homes of an entire gens, comprising the families of the grandparents, children and grandchildren, their husbands, wives and children. They were built and constructed of poles for framework, and bark for covering. In shape they resembled our arbors. Selecting saplings of proper size and length, they peeled, trimmed and sharpened the lower ends, and sunk them in the ground in two straight rows, equi-distant apart. The distance between these lines or rows of poles was regulated according to the taste of the builders and length of their poles. The size of the hodenasate was governed by the number of persons it was intended to shelter and accommodate. Having firmly imbedded the lower ends of these saplings or poles in the two lines at interims of about four feet, their tops were inclined to the center, meeting and lapping at the desired height. They were securely lashed together with strips of strong bark or hickory withes. When this was completed other saplings or poles were cut and split into halves and laid transversely upon the upright poles, commencing near the ground, and upward at about three feet apart, lash- ing them fast at each intersection with thongs of deer skin or bark until the center or top was reached. This done they had a substantial framework upon which to rest and secure their bark covering or weather-boarding. For this purpose they obtained large blocks of bark, usually from elm trees, cutting it to the required length and straightening the edges so they would meet without leaving cracks or interstices for the storm to penetrate. These pieces of bark were laid upon the framework and secured to it by cutting small holes through which thongs of bark were run, passing around the framework and tied fast. At the ends of the hodenasate poles were set in the AND BLACK HAWK'S WATCH-TOWER. ground, extending up perpendicularly to intersect the frame and fastened thereto, and placing split poles horizontally thereon for the bark covering and fastening it the same as on the sides, leaving a space in the center about three feet wide and six feet high for ingress and egress, over which they suspended a reed mat or the dressed skin of the buffalo or bear, which com- pleted their long house or hodenasate. The annexed drawing will give the readers a full comprehension of the hodenasate of these Indians, as we now remember them : Fig. 1. oo DOOR O O ( 1 O DOO 8 8 Q 8 8 8 8 at GROUND PLAN. Fig. 2. HODENASATE COMPLETE. Fig. 1 represents the ground plan and internal division, showing sixteen compartments, each eight feet square, which would accommodate sixteen families. The hall running through the center was their reception and general living room, and common to all, \vhile the rooms running along each side were the private rooms of the respective families, where their beds were placed, together with their scanty supply of household goods. Not being encumbered with chairs, tables or trunks, they had room sufficient to their wants. The Indian sits upon a mat or skin, flat on the ground. The O shows location of their fires. Each fire supplied four families, a hole be- ing left over each fireplace for the escape of the smoke, as shown in Fig. 2, representing the exterior of the hodenasate complete. These long houses afforded good shelter from wind and storm, but were not warm ; but since they were only used for residences during the spring, summer and early fall they served the purpose for which they were built comparatively well. These Indians spent their winters at their hunting grounds in northeastern Missouri, erecting their small, round wigwams in the heavy timber along C, 8AfK-K-XrK, THE ANCIENT CITY, the streams, sheltered from the winds by high bluffs or hills. Their favorite winter quarters were on what was then known as the Two Rivers. As a general thing all the side compartments were not used as living or sleeping rooms, but were utilized as store rooms for their clothing, saddles, bridles, weapons and provisions. Their beds were spread upon elastic poles, whose ends rested on cross pieces, and consisted of the soft skins of the bear, panther, wolf, lynx or catamount. Upon these soft, elastic beds they re- posed their weary bodies and slept "on downy beds of ease," the envy of kings. Hence the Indian was the original inventor of spring beds, which have of late become so popular with us. But as he failed to obtain a patent some cute Yankee has utilized this Indian discovery to coin money out of its patent. As a general rule an entire gens or kin occupied one hodenasate. All provisions, whether from the field or chase, were taken to the long house anil there held in common for the use of its occupants, and free to every member of the hodenasate. He or she had a perfect right to use from this commou store all they wanted to eat, but were not permitted to sell or give it away to an outsider. To this rule there was but one exception, and that exception was in favor of a hungry stranger applying for food. It was con- , sidered a great crime among these Indians to refuse food to a stranger. Jonathan Carver, the celebrated traveller among the Xorth American In- dians, visited the Sauks at Saukenuk in 1776, and speaks of their hospitality in his published observations as follows: "Xo people are more hospitable, kind and free than these Indians. They will readily share \vitb any of their own tribe the last part of their pro- visions, and even with those of a different nation if they chance to come in when they are eating." James Adair, another celebrated Indian visitor and writer, whose book of travels among the aboriginees of America was published in 1875, says : "They are so hospitable, kind hearted and free that they would share with those of their own tribe the last part of their own provisions even to a single ear of corn; and to others if they called when they were eating, for they have no stated meal time. An open, generous temper is a standing virtue among them. To be narrow-hearted, especially to those in want, or to any of their own family, is accounted a great crime, and to reflect scandal on the rest of the tribe. .Such wretched misers they brand with bad charac- ters." When travelling in his own country, if but to another village than his own, a Sauk always enquired for a hodenasate of his own gens. If he did not find one he then enquired for one of his own gentes or phratry, and finding it he was kindly received, though he had never seen a single member of the household. He was welcome to all he might need in the way of refreshment ami rest. They had their state house called synedrian, corresponding with the Jewish sanhedrim, where the headmen and chiefs convened to consider public affairs, and at other times the people met there to sing, dance, feast and rejoice in the presence of the Good Spirit. If a stranger called there he always received a hearty welcome and the most kindly treatment. Com- munism entered into and formed their plan of life, as well as determined AND BLACK HAWK'S WATCH-TOWER. 7 the character of their homes. It was a union of effort to procure the means of subsistence as well as safety. A desire for the accumulation of individual wealth or property had little or no existence, because there were no in- ducements, as before shown. The women governed the hodenasates, and while their stores were in common, each adult was expected to contribute their labor and skill to- wards keeping the hodenasate in supply of food, and ;t woe to the luckless husband or lover who was too shiftless to do his share of the providing. IS'o matter how many children or whatever goods he might have in the house, he might at any time be ordered to pack up his blanket and budge ; and after such orders it would not be healthful for him to disobey. The house would become too hot for him ; and unless saved by the intercession of some aunt or grandmother, he must retreat to his own class, or, as was often done, go and start a new matrimonial alliance in some other class." If the reader has been under the impression that the Indian women are the drudges and obedient slaves of their lazy louts of husbands, let him at once be undeceived. Like the women of the pale faces, she ruled alike the hodenasate and its occupants. They were essentially petty tyrants over the home, and wielded a powerful influence in their gens, gentes and phra- try, and never for a moment hesitated to exercise their power whenever and wherever the facts and circumstances warranted their action. In deposing a chief for cowardice or other base conduct, and relegating him to the ranks, and nominating and electing his successor, was their special delight. This they called "knocking the horns from the head of a chief." It mattered not how high the rank, how many years he had filled his po- sition with honor to himself and benefit to his tribe, or how many deeds of daring he may have performed, if in an evil hour he committed an egregious blunder, or showed cowardice, which was an unpardonable sin with them, he was doomed and could not escape. They had the exclusive prerogative of nominating his successor, and seldom indeed was the occasion when they failed in obtaining votes enough to elect their nominee. For this reason he who sought a chieftaincy found it all important to make friends among the squaws, hence gallantry was a virtue not only cultivated but practiced by their warriors and braves as Avell as chiefs and headmen. The Sauks belonged to that class known as village Indians, the most ad- vanced towards civilization found in North America, and always lived in or near their village. The hodenasate is the distinguishing characteristic of their principal vil- lage, and means settlement or permanence, while the wigwam or tepee was equally characteristic of a hunting or migrating party, and therefore a mere tempory abode. As a general rule their hodenasates were built so as to face or front on their public square or other street, and ranged in straight lines at the front and equal distances from each other. Saukenuk was built in the shape of a right ange ; had two public squares or esplanades, running at right angles, with their intersection at the southeast, one run- ning north, the other west. The east line of the village, extending from Kock River north towards Eock Island, at the base of the promontory, was 8 SATK-K-XrK, THK ANCIENT CITY, about double the length of the south line, which ran west along the north bank of Rock River. The chief or larger and longer public spuare was the one running north and south, leading from Rock River towards the Missis- sippi, through or near which now runs the horse railway from Rock Island to Moline. Upon the southeast angle of the intersection of these two pub- lic squares stood their synedrian or council house, which was an immensely large hodenasate without partitions or subdivisions, and wag used by their headmen and chiefs for the secret consideration and decision of matters per- taining to the welfare of their nation. When not so used it was thrown open to their young people as a gymnasium, music or dancing hall. The public square, however, was the arena for the assembly of the people on all great events of a public nature, and where their mass-meetings and national feasts were held. Here, too, were their warriors and braves drilled and in- structed in the arts of Indian warefare; here their younger warriors and would-be braves tested their skill in the manly arts and feats of strength and endurance ; here, too, were held their war dances and more terrible sun-dance, and here held their simple yet devout religious services, and of- fered up to the Great Spirit their burnt offerings; here were their war parties organ i/ed for the war-path, and received upon their return with shouts from the people, beating of tom-toms, and the singing of their wa- wan-ais-sas or whipoorwills, as their singing women were called ; here, too, the ambitious youth, eager to select his medicine bag and adopt his totem, "told o'er his hairbreadth 'scapes" and deeds of toil and daring while on the war-path or in the chase, in the most extravagant language, and if they were deemed worthy he was received and acknowledged as a brave, with all the rights, privileges arid l>enelits it conferred, together with the congrat- ulations of his loved ones. If rejected, he bore the great disappointment with all the stoicism peculiar to the Indian character, suffering it like the youthful Spartan's stolen fox "to gnaw away at his very vitals without sign or signal of distress," and bided his time to try, try again for the dearly coveted boon. It was here their old men expatiated in extravagant similes of their wisdom and experience of what they had seen and done in their youth; here their prophets declared their visions and prophecies, and their sooth-sayers their auguries, and their Big Medicines proclaimed their tri- umphs over death, and of snatching his victims from his very teeth ; here, too, were held their courts of justice, with their aged headman as their judge, and their most gifted orators acted as counsel and advocates, full of precedents, and eloquent in arguments ; some of them gifted with that over- whelming eloquence that carried everything before them eloquence that partook of the nature and power of absolute enchantment, now rousing into fury, then softening and soothing into tears of compassion. The natural scenery surrounding the ancient city was of that wild, weird beauty as to captivate the senses and hold us spellbound in admiration scenery of that ravishing kind which drives the poet mad in search of apt terms of description a second Eden, prepared by God himself for a special and perpetuated admiration to His children, of the primal eldest curse of Adam and Eve and the enduring penalty therefor inflicted upon their de- AND BLACK HAWK'S WATCH-TOWEU. 11 seenclants. As the beautiful Rock River approaches the site of ancient Saukenuk from the east it divides into three branches and forms two small islands. The northern one is the somewhat celebrated Vandruft''s Island, notorious as being the place where Joshua Vandruft' located his whisky shop in 1829, which, as will appear in a subsequent chapter, "led to the so- called Black Hawk war of 1831," while the middle branch divides VandrufFs from Big Island. The lower end of Vandruff's Island drops below the upper end of Saukenuk, while the upper end of Big Island laps on the lower end of Vandruff's Island. The latter contains an area of some two hundred acres, the general surface of which is flat as a pancake, and was originally studded with trees, brush and briars. Gov. Ford, although one of Gen. Whiteside's spy battalion in his celebrated charge upon this island, hereafter described, was clearly mistaken when he says it ran up abruptly, so that Gen. Gaines' cannonade was ineffective a hundred yards from shore. Big Island is larger and more irregular in surface than Vandruff's. The main branch of Rock River, however, is the more northern channel which passes along near the site of this ancient city, and is about three hun- dred feet wide at this point, and too deep to ford at ordinary stages of water. Neither of these islands are subject to overflows, because this river is chiefly fed by springs, and therefore never goes upon the rampage, and seldom in- deed does it ever "get uppish." On the south bank of the south branch of Rock river stands the beauti- ful village of Milan, late Camden, nestling beneath the shadows of the grand old bluft' of the Mississippi, for at this point the south bluft' of the Mississippi extends beyond the peninsula and takes Rock river in its folds. These two islands in Rock river are studded with buildings and other im- provements, and are traversed by a railroad and horse car track at the present time. Milan is connected with the lovely city of Rock Island, some four miles north, by a horse-car railway and the Rock Island and Pcoria railroad, the former making hourly trips. Both of these railroads pass througli the site of ancient Saukenuk, running parallel and only a few rods apart at this point, each having three respective bridges across the three branches of Rock river. At Searsville, a small village located on a portion of the site of Saukenuk, about half a mile north of the north branch of Rock river, a branch of the horse-car railroad (but operated by a small steam engine or dummy) connects with the main track and leads up a ravine in the promontory, thence to BLACK HAWK'S WATCH TOWER, which stands immediately on the north branch of Rock River, and about half a mile up that river from the upper end of ancient Saukenuk (a fine engraving of which is here presented). At the lower end of the promontory, near the north bank of Rock River, and close to the upper end of Saukenuk the Chippionnock or Silent City of the Dead of the Sauks was located. Unlike the greater number of Indian nations of their time, they buried their dead in the ground. The spot where their burial ground was located 12 8AUK-E-XUK, THE ANCIENT CITY, is on the lower point of the promontory, and some eighty feet above the level where Saukenuk stood. Then denuded of timber, it is now thickly studded with trees, many of whose varieties are never found elsewhere, ex- cept in bottom land. Here upon this ridge, for such it is, as a deep ravine passes up through this promontory some four hundred yards north, and runs parallel with the river entirely through the promontory, may be seen to-day honey locust, black walnut, hackberry, black cherry, basswood, or linden, box alder, elm, sycamore, and other kinds of river-bottom timber. Thousands upon thousands of their dead repose here without stake or stone to point out the spot where their lives ended and their eternity began. In this ravine running through the promontory two beds or veins of fine bituminous stone coal have been found, one being about ftfty feet above the other. The lower vein is about four feet in thickness, with a good sub- stantial rock or shale roof over it, so as to render it in mining both safe and profitable. Hon. Bailey Davenport, who owns the land, is actively engaged in min- ing and shipping coal from this vein, and for that purpose, in part at least, constructed his horse railway. Here in this ravine, and below these coal veins, lead and iron ores are found, but not in pay ing quantities. A singular fact in connection with these mineral deposits is this : They are all found in the north hank of this ravine, and none in the south bank. The ridge lying between the ravine and Rock River seems to be made up of rock that, too, of various kinds, and no minerals have as yet been discovered in it. This ridge, which may be aptly called a "hog's back," follows up the river at an average elevation of one hundred feet above the river's surface for the distance of a mile. Near midway up the surface rises somewhat abruptly about forty feet, extending about twenty rods, and then suddenly drops oft' to its previous elevation. The body of this elevation is St. Peter's sandstone, whose surface is covered with well-sodded rich loam, and was originally covered with monster old white oaks. This elevation or peak stands immediately at the water's edge, and is known as "Black Hawk's Watch Tower." Extending east for some dozen miles Rock River comes down in nearly a straight line, but on leaving the promontory on the west its course bends northerly, so as to obstruct the view in that direction. Among the many wonders of this truly wonder-land, this grand old tower is among the most wonderful. With the exception of the rock under this tower, and extending up some four hundred yards above, there are no sand stone within many miles. Add to this the fact that it is located on a peninsula, whose soil was largely formed from the driftings and deposits of vegetable matter of these two rivers, and the promontory of which this tower is a part was formed and created in the same way, whose soil is rich as rich can be, the great query is, how came these sand stone and mineral deposits there ? By what freak of mother nature was this hoary old rock deposited on this peninsula? It is one of nature's secrets, to be guessed at, but never satisfactorily solved, unless we admit that this land, with its rich mineral and rock deposits, was there before the birth of the mighty Misis- AND BLACK HAWK'S WATCH-TOWER. 13 eippi, whose waters played antics with its surface, and left it in its present form and shape. It is at least a subject of wonder and speculation. The apex of this Watch Tower is but a higher elevation of the promon- tory, and accessible by horse railroad, and embraces an area of about a quarter of an acre. The fine trees which formerly grew here could not withstand the inces- sant tramping of the feet of the multitude of visitors hither, and gradually died and fell into decay, and have finally been removed, leaving not even a stump or root to shoV where they stood. Though used by the Sauks as their signal and lookout station, for over a century prior to their expulsion from Illinois, their soft moccasined feet did not affect these trees, and when the Indians left, in 1831, this tower was well studded with these monarchs of the forest, in whose tops the Indians had constructed platforms for the accommodation of their sentinels, one or more of whom was ever on duty here. These platforms were made of poles, laid from one large, nearly hor- izontal limb to another, closely beside each other, so as to form a substantial platform. Perched up among the high branches of these oak trees, about two hundred feet above the river's surface at their feet, their faithful lynx- eyed sentinels held their stations from early dawn to dewy eve, and from dewy eve to early morn, with eagle eyes ever on the alert to note every- thing that transpired within the scope of their vision. To the east he could trace Rock River for twelve miles. To the south his vision, extended over the bluff, away over the prairies. West of the lookout stood Saukenuk, which extended north nearly to the Mississippi. Up and down Rock River, away over the tree tops, hill and bluff, far over the widespread prairies and valley, their vision took in every moving object, ready to signal the city everything of danger or interest, as well as the return of their hunting or war parties, and the approach of friends. They had a regular system of telegraphy. The Watch Tower was their battery and machine; signal lights their electric wires. This is no fiction, but an absolute reality. By the use of tires and smoke upon this elevated spot, which could be seen, especially at night, for a hundred miles on either side, these Indians communicated news with the rapidity of electricity. Black Hawk's description of this singular rock and locality is as follows : "Our village was situated on the north side of Rock River, Rt the foot of the rapids, on a point of land between Rock River and the Mississippi. In front a prairie extended to the Mississippi, and rear a continued bluff gently ascended from the prairie. On its highest peak our Watch Tower was sit- uated, from which we had a fine view for many miles up and down Rock River, and in every direction * * * This tower to which my name had been applied was a favorite resort, and was frequently visited by me, where I could sit and smoke my pipe and look with wonder and pleasure at the grand scenes that were presented by the sun's rays, even across the mighty water. On one occasion a Frenchman, who had been making his home in our village, brought his violin with him to the tower to play and dance for the amusement of a number of our people who had assembled there, and while dancing with his back to the cliff accidentally fell over it, and was killed by the fall. The Indians say that always at the same time of the year soft strains of the violin can be heard near that spot. On either side of the 14 SAl'K-E-KCK, T1IK ANCIENT CITV, blutt'we had our corn-fields, extending about two miles up, parallel with the larger river, where they joined those of the Foxes', whose village was on the same stream, opposite the lower end of Rock Island, and three miles distant from ours. We had eight hundred (should have been three thous- and) acres in cultivation, including what we had on the island (VandrufTs and Big Islands^ in Rock River. The land around our village, which re- mained unbroken, was covered with blue-grass, which furnished excellent pasture for our horses. Several springs poured out of the blurt' near by, from which we were well supplied with good water. The rapids of Rock River furnished us with an abundance of excellent fish, and the land being fertile, never failed to produce good crops of corn, beans, pumpkins anil squashes; we always had plenty. Our children never cried from hunger; neither were our people in want. Here our village stood more than a hun- dred years, during all of which time we were the undisputed possessors of the Mississippi Valley from Wisconsin to the Portaze Des Sioux, near the mouth of the Missouri, being about seven hundred miles in length." It will be observed that while Black Hawk says they cultivated eight hun- dred acres of land, including that on VandrufTs and Big Islands, he says their cultivated lands were two miles up, parallel with the Mississippi and three miles long which make six square miles. Each square mile contain- ing 640 acres would aggregate 3840 acres of cultivated land. But all of the lands embraced in the two by three miles described by the old chief was not suitable for corn lands and the actual amount cultivated by them was but about 3000 acres. Hon. Bailey Davenport, of the city of Rock Island, is the owner of the greater portion of the land whereon Saukenuk stood, including Black Hawk's Watch Tower, and has constructed a horse railway leading from the city of Rock Island to Black Hawk's Watch Tower, on which he has erected a neat building on the Swiss Cottage plan, with wide porches on the north and south sides for the accommodation of the large number of visitors to this historic place, where he who would for a short time with- draw from the dust, smoke and noise of the crowded, busy streets of the city may seek rest and repose beneath the green shades of God's umbrellas the trees and snuff the fresh, pure air of heaven, laden with the per- fumes of the meadows and glades. He has named the building Black Hawk's Watch Tower Pavilion. Sur- rounding it are long tables, and rustic seats spread over the lawns to accommodate picnic parties and serve them with ice cream and other refreshments, except ardent spirits. The latter is strictly prohibited on the tower. The pavilion is well kept. Its rooms are large, and it can be made a very agreeable home, and that, too, at reasonable prices. A quiet retreat, away from the busy haunts, where you can enjoy the pure air and beautiful scenery to your heart's content. It is indeed one of the most lovely sum- mer resorts in the state. Standing upon this tower on a pleasant Sabbath in September, 1883, and for the first time drinking in and absorbing the glorious landscape here pre- sented, and at the same time thinking of the many thousands of human be- ings who had preceded us thither; of its antiquity as a place of resort; of the great city which stood near by, but now no more, we were filled with a AND BLACK HAWK'S WATCH-TOWKR. 15 sad kind of solemn awe, which seemed to saj r , "put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou stnnde'et is holy ground." A holy halo surrounded us on all sides, filling us with admiration and wonder. An {indefinable sense that God himself was near us, and all around us, showing some of His most beautiful works; yet tinged with a melancholy reflection over the departed greatness of a once favored nation, who perhaps had vio- lated His commandments and broken His laws, and were therefore driven forth from this Eden to seek shelter and build up a new home in the wilds west of the Mississippi. Like silver threads ran ripplingly along at our feet the three branches of Rock River, while side by side slumbered the two small islands. Beyond them, nestling like a bird in her nest, stood the pretty little village of Milan, whose sweet-toned church bells were calling His people to His holy altar, and forcibly recalled us from our revery to the fact of that being God's holy day, and we felt that we were then standing upon "His holy mountain, where He commanded the blessing, even life everlasting." Away to the BLACK HAWK'S WATCH TOWER, LOOKING EAST. east, as far as our vision could extend, we beheld the beautiful waters and valley of Rock River. To the south, and as it were beneath our feet, large herds of horses and cattle were lazily grazing the succulent grass upon Vandruff's, and beyond we saw growing fields of grain and farm residences on Big Island. Beyond that the village of Milan, flanked by the south bluff of the Mississippi. Away over this bluff, over the trees upon its brow, we beheld the prairie, dotted with farms like a checker board, the happy homes of Rock Island's princes, the honest, independent tillers of the soil. To the west large mills and factories and the railroad bridges, with cars moving 16 8AUK-E-NCK, THE ANCIENT CITY, like things of life under the mysterious power of steam. While standing thus we realized the force of the aphorism of the poet: "Some feelings are to mortals given With more of earth in them than Heaven." For the irreverent thought kept pressing upon our mind that if this had been the mount to which the devil led our Savior, and this the country he ottered as the bribe to fall down and worship him, instead of the barren hills and impoverished vales of .Palestine, the Christian world of to-day would have been Jews. Yet with all the beauty of this locality, together with its intensely interesting history, its once powerful inhabitants and large city, the occular evidence of which is still here to be seen, all lying within a few minutes travel by rail from the three cities, Davenport, Rock Island and Moline, we venture the assertion that not to exceed five per cent, of the fifty thousand or more inhabitants of these cities have visited the site of ancient Saukenuk (once the largest city west of the Allegheny mountains) or Black Hawk's Watch Tower, and probably not more than ten per cent, of their inhabitants have ever heard of their existences, and if they have are unaware that they are located near by, and can be examined and enjoyed for the small sum of twenty cents, horse-car fare there and back. On the north bank of Rock River, at a point some four hundred yards east of Black Hawk's Watch Tower, was a grotto or cave, extending back from the water's edge into the promontory. This grotto was doubtless cut out by the current of the river, fretting away the soft sand-stone rock. At its outer edge it was considerably lower than at the rear. From its brow the promontory ran up to a hundred feet or more at an angle of forty-five de- grees. Through this grotto a beautiful little streamlet of bright, pure spring water came percolating through the rook and formed a little pool near the outer edge. With this grotto were several legends connected, two of which we deem of sufficent interest to insert. The first is from the Sauteaux when they had possession of this peninsula, the latter by the Sauks, which occurred as late as 1827. We give the latter first and in Black Hawk's own lan- guage, as given by Col. Patterson : "In 1827 a young Sioux Indian got lost on the prairie in a snow storm and found his way into a camp of the Sauks. According to Indian customs, although he was an enemy, he was safe while accepting their hospitality. He remained there for some time on account of the severity of the storm. Becoming well acquainted he fell in love with the daughter of the Sank at whose village he had been entertained, and be- fore leaving for his own country promised to come back to the Sank vil- lage for her at a certain time during the approaching summer. In July he made his way to the Rock river village, secreting hirrffeelf in the woods until he met the object of his love, who came out to the field with her mother, to assist in hoeing corn. Late in the afternoon her mother left her and went to the village. No sooner had she got out of hearing than he gave a loud whistle, which assured the maiden that he had returned. She con- AND BLACK HAWK'S WATCH-TOWKK. 17 tinued hoeing leisurely to the end of the ro\v, when her lover came to her and she promised to come to him as soon as she could go to the lodge and get her blanket, and together they would flee to his country. But, unfor- tunately for the lovers, the girl's two brothers had seen the meeting, and after procuring their guns, started in pursuit of them. A heavy thunder storm was coming on at the time. The lovers hastened to and took shel- ter under a clift' of rocks at Black Hawk's Watch Tower. Soon after a peal of thunder was heard, the clift' of rocks was shattered in a thousand pieces and the lovers buried beneath, while in full view of her pursuing brothers. This, their unexpected tomb still remains undisturbed." That this statement of Black Hawk is true is corroborated and partially established by the unmistakeable evidence of an extensive land-slide still very distinctly marked at this spot; and when he said the thunder-peal shattered the cliff of rocks in a thousand pieces he stated the truth more directly than would at first thought appear, as since we understand that it is the lightning that destroys instead of the thunder; but in this case it was the concussion or thunder, which is but the concussion of the lightning, produced the effect. The frail rock-shelf, already crumbling under its thousands of tons weight of earth and trees upon the side of the promon- tory constantly pressing on it, was ready to break like a pipe-stem at any moment, and when the thunder peal vibrated against the promontory caused it to tremble and quiver, the shelving rock gave way and down came an avalanche of rock, earth and trees, submerging the grotto and the lovers many fathoms beneath, and left them there entombed, where their mortal remains still slumber and thus was the union of the Sauk and the Sioux, who like the Capulets and Montagues were hereditary enemies, through the intermarriage of this Komeo and Juliet, defeated by death. The Sautaux legend, though not of love, is also of death and special horror. In point of time it is a century older than that of the Sauks, and is as follows : During their occupancy of this peninsula their young but popular war chief was missing and no one knew whither he had gone. Neither his wife or any one else had the slightest knowledge of his where- abouts or the cause of his absence. The deepest anxiety was felt by the entire tribe for his safety. Thus matters continued for several days, with- out tidings from him, when the people were assembled on the public square by their village crier and public announcement made that their beloved chief had been absent several days and the gravest fears were entertained for his safety. No one knew anything as to where he had gone. Search- ing parties were despatched in all directions who returned at night without tidings. On the morrow the entire village turned out to renew the search. A small party started up Rock Iliver in canoes, and as they passed by this grotto one of the canoes was run up to the cave to enable its occupants to strike a light for their pipes. As the tirst Indian alighted from the canoe upon the outer edge of the grotto the sight presented to his startled view was such as to curdle his blood and render him speechless with horror. His trembling limbs refused to bear his weight and he fell prone upon his 18 8AUK-E-NUK, THE ANCIENT CITY, face, and as his companions rushed forward to learn the cause a chorus of loud wails from their paled lips called a multitude of horrified Sautaux thither to gaze upon the horrid eight. There laid the dead body of their lost chief upon his back with his glassy eyes staring at the shelving rock above, his scalp-lock gone, his brains strewn upon the rocks, his heart taken from his body and placed upon his naked breast. This they believed to have been done by their Manitou in punishment of some secret and to them unknown crime; hence this place above all others was from thence forward the home of the Bad Spirit and shunned as the most horrid of horrors. The very bravest of their braves ever after gave this cave a wide berth and abundant room when passing up the river when compelled to ascend or descend Rock River. But Dove Eye, the favorite daughter of their headman or village chief, although she had often heard the horrid legend of the death of one of the chiefs of her tribe at this "Cave of Death" many years before and fully aware of the superstitions of her people with regard to it, frequently sought this spectral grotto, solitary and alone, for, indeed, she could not have induced a living soul to have accompanied her thither. The village of the Sautaux was located where the city of Rock Island now stands, hence the distance from her father's lodge to the Cave of Death was over three miles. To this grotto would she almost daily repair to commune with her own feelings and dress her raven locks by the reflection of the bright spring water in the little basin near its outer edge for her mirror. This legend was made the basis for an illustration of a beautiful album nearly half a century ago, whose frontispiece was the engraving of a beau- tiful Indian maiden in the act of dressing her hair by its reflection from a rivulet or basin as her mirror. Many efforts were made to dedicate these albums by would-be poets of forty years ago, but none so fine as that of the late Geo. H. Kiersted, Civil Engineer, etc., and for many years a promi- nent citizen of Grundy Co., 111., written in the alburn of Mrs. Dinwiddie, about forty years ago, but never published, vi/. : "Half pleasc