of Frenchtown and the Thames, he returned
to Illinois and carried on a border warfare which ended only with the
signing of a special treaty of peace in 1816. For years thereafter he
was accustomed to lead his "British band" periodically across northern
Illinois and southern Michigan to the British Indian agency to receive
presents of arms, ammunition, provisions, and trinkets; and he was a
principal intermediary in the British intrigues which gave Cass, as
superintendent of Indian affairs in the Northwest, many uneasy days. He
was ever a restless spirit and a promoter of trouble, although one must
admit that he had some justice on his side and that he was probably
honest and sincere. Tall, spare, with pinched features, exceptionally
high cheekbones, and a prominent Roman nose, he was a figure to command
attention--the more so by reason of the fact that he had practically no
eyebrows and no hair except a scalp-lock, in which on state occasions he
fastened a flaming bunch of dyed eagle feathers.

Returning from their hunt in the spring of 1830, Black Hawk and his
warriors found the site of their town preempted by white settlers and
their ancestral burying-ground ploughed over. In deep rage, they set
off for Malden, where they were liberally entertained and encouraged to
rebel. Coming again to the site of their village a year later, they
were peremptorily ordered away. This time they resolved to stand their
ground, and Black Hawk ordered the squatters themselves to withdraw
and gave them until the middle of the next day to do so. Black Hawk
subsequently maintained that he did not mean to threaten bloodshed. But
the settlers so construed his command and deluged Governor Reynolds with
petitions for help. With all possible speed, sixteen hundred volunteers
and ten companies of United States regulars were dispatched to the
scene, and on the 25th of June, they made an impressive demonstration
within view of the village. In the face of such odds discretion seemed
the better part of valor, and during the succeeding night Black Hawk and
his followers quietly paddled across the Mississippi. Four days later
they signed an agreement never to return to the eastern banks without
express permission from the United States Government.

On the Indian side this compact was not meant to be kept. Against the
urgent advice of Keokuk and other leaders, Black Hawk immediately
began preparations for a campaign of vengeance. British intrigue lent