Warren County IN Archives History - Books .....The Black Hawk War 1883
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Book Title: Counties Of Warren, Benton, Jasper And Newton, Indiana

THE BLACK HAWK WAR.

   During the spring of 1832, all the Wabash Valley was thrown into a fever of
consternation by the reports that the Indians of the Sac and Fox nations on Rock
River, Illinois, led by the implacable old chief, Black Hawk, had taken up the
hatchet and were sweeping eastward, murdering and torturing the whites without
limit or discrimination. Fugitives on horses and on foot scoured the country
with wildly exaggerated accounts, confirming the reports that fifteen persons
had been cruelly murdered at the Hickory Creek settlement in Illinois, and about
the 18th of May the report spread like wildfire down the western side of the
Wabash that a large body of hostile Indians had killed two men within fifteen
miles of La Fayette. About half the settlers in Warren County west of the river
hurriedly packed their handiest valuables and fled across the river, where rude
forts and block-houses were quickly prepared and guarded. Companies of militia
were immediately organized to scour the country for signs of danger and to check
the advance of the Indians upon the villages and neighborhoods where the women,
children, helpless and cowards had assembled. A small company of about
twenty-five men was formed in Warren County. Col. James Gregory was elected
Captain, and the men, thoroughly armed and provisioned, started northwestward on
a scouting expedition. A few families in the county did not leave their farms
nor neglect their daily work; still fewer, in isolated places, knew nothing of
the reports until the alarm was over, when they had their scare. The company
went as far as the Hickory Creek settlement in Illinois, remaining in that
vicinity for a few days, when they returned, the apprehension of danger having
been quieted. While the alarm was highest, a man riding along Mud Pine Creek in
Warren County saw two Indians skulking through the bushes off some distance to
one side, and surmising that they were endeavoring to cut him off and murder
him, he put whip to his horse in a paroxysm of fear, and fled as if pursued by
the Furies. The animal that bore him was a splendid one, and he was soon far
beyond the clutches of the savages, though he still continued to ply whip and
spur. The faithful animal was nearly ruined. He told all he met that the Indians
were on Mud Pine Creek and had chased him some distance, but his own skill and
the fleetness of his horse had baffled them, but that they, would soon be down
in Adams and Medina Townships, scalping and murdering. The few families
remaining in the neighborhood gathered together to defend themselves and their
property. Several men mounted their horses to go on a reconnoitering expedition,
Daniel Moffit, mounted on a borrowed gray mare, being among the number. Away
they went, but Mr. Moffit soon discovered that his mare was uncertain, for
whenever he attempted to go too fast, she would stop suddenly, and kick as if
her hind legs were a perpetual motion. Whip or spur increased the power and
rapidity of the kicks, while the report of a rifle caused her to buck furiously
as well. Mr. Moffit, though a brave man, became very uneasy. Suppose a band of
Indians should charge upon them, that old mare would stand like a post and kick
like a pile driver till the air would be filled with hoofs and sod. But would
that stop the Indians? Mr. Moffit sorrowfully thought to himself that it would
not He begged his companions to go slower and to do nothing that would rouse the
old mare. Accordingly, they all struck a moderate gait and were soon on the
ground where the two Indians had been seen. In a short time they discovered the
Indians in a small grove where they had killed and dressed a deer and were
resting and eating after their chase. Upon being questioned, it became clear
they had been following the wounded deer when seen by the man who had roused the
neighborhood with his fears and were perfectly friendly to the whites. The
horsemen returned home, old mare and all.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

PART II.
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
Geology and Settlement

========================

COUNTIES OF 
Warren, Benton, Jasper and Newton,
INDIANA

HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL
ILLUSTRATED.

CHICAGO: F. A. BATTEY & CO., PUBLISHERS.
1883.


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