American mining settlements sprang up after the close of the War of 1812, and by 1827 an established coach road, known as Kellogg’s Trail, ran from Peoria one hundred and twenty miles north to Galena, which was in the heart of the mining country. Along this road were occasional groups of cabins, while on either side trails ran off into the wilderness which would have led the traveller who followed them to solitary homesteads and well-ordered farms. In a rich and fertile tract at the mouth of Rock River stood the chief village of the Sauks. It was one of the largest and most prosperous Indian towns on the continent, with more than five hundred families, and was besides the principal cemetery of the nation. Squatters seized the Indian fields, built their huts on their clearings, and stole their harvests. Until the lands were formally sold the Indians had a right there, and their complaints were just. In 1828, however, the site of the village was sold, and the tribes were given notice to leave. Keokuk, the chief of the Sauks, crossed the Mississippi with the majority of the tribe and counselled the rest to yield peaceably. A considerable number of the Indians remained in the settlement, living on the high bluff which has since been known as Black Hawk’s Watch Tower, and cultivating the few fields which remained to them. Black Hawk was one of the Indians who did not share Keokuk’s submissive temper of mind. He was a warrior about sixty years of age, who seems always to have been a restless and discontented member of the tribe. He was a tall, spare man, with pinched features, high cheek-bones, and a prominent Roman nose. His black eyes were piercing; he had practically no eyebrows, and his hair had been plucked out save for a single scalp-lock, in which on occasions was fastened a bunch of eagle feathers. He was a striking figure, and his history bore out in interest his appearance. He had begun his warlike career in early youth. Before he was fifteen he had won in his tribe the rank of a brave, and at that age the scalping of an enemy had gained him the coveted right to paint, to wear feathers, and to dance the war-dance. Since that time he had been involved in every tribal skirmish that had taken place, and he had played a prominent part in the white men’s wars. [Illustration: Portrait of Black Hawk, shown wearing several necklaces as well as numerous earrings which are in both ears.]