Battle Creek (Nebraska)
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Battle Creek is a stream in
Madison County, Nebraska Madison County is a county in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 34,876. Its county seat is Madison and its largest city is Norfolk. Madison County was named for James Madison, fourth President of ...
, in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. It is a tributary of the
Elkhorn River The Elkhorn River is a river in northeastern Nebraska, United States, that originates in the eastern Sandhills and is one of the largest tributaries of the Platte River, flowing and joining the Platte just southwest of Omaha, approximately s ...
.


History

Before European-American settlement in the area, the Elkhorn River Valley was occupied by the
Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language: * Pawnee people * Pawnee language Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States: * Pawnee, Illinois * Pawnee, Kansas * Pawnee, Missouri * Pawnee City, Nebraska * ...
. In July 1859, white settlers in the area complained that the Pawnee had been stealing from settlers. The reports reached the territorial capitol, Omaha, and outraged the citizens who believed the Pawnee needed to be "punished." A petition was signed by the citizens of Omaha calling for the Nebraska Territorial Militia to intervene. The 300-man militia, led by General John Milton Thayer and Lieutenant Beverly Holcombe Robertson, headed west to attack a large Pawnee camp. The Pawnee learned of the large military force advancing toward them and immediately surrendered. The so-called "Pawnee War of 1859" was resolved without bloodshed, but the nearby creek was named Battle Creek after the incident nonetheless. Some sources claim that "Chief Petalasharu wrapped an American flag around himself" to show goodwill to the American forces and broker peace. However, this is unsupported elsewhere and the story may have arisen from the conflation of several well-known Pawnee men named Petalesharo. The first
Petalesharo Petalesharo (c. 1797 – c. 1836) was a Skidi Pawnee chief or brave who rescued an "Ietan" girl, that is Comanche girl,Thurman, Melburn D.: "The Timing of the Skidi-Pawnee Morning Star " ''Ethnohistory'', Vol. 30 (1983), No. 3, pp. 155-163. from ...
was a Skidi Pawnee leader who was well-remembered and celebrated by white settlers for opposing human sacrifice, but this man died in 1836. Petalesharo was also the name of two Chaui Pawnee chiefs. The elder Petalesharo is remembered for his part in the 1833 treaty which ceded southern Nebraska to the United States. Petalesharo's son, also named Petalesharo, was born around 1823 and became head chief of the Pawnee in the early 1850s. The younger Petalesharo is likely the Petalesharo referenced, however, Petalesharo is remembered as a staunch supporter of Pawnee sovereignty and independence, so it seems unlikely that he would drape himself in the American flag.


See also

*
Battle Creek, Nebraska Battle Creek is a city in Madison County, Nebraska, United States. It is part of the Norfolk, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,207 at the 2010 census. History In 1859, following complaints of Pawnee depredations ag ...
*
American Indian Wars The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, were fought by European governments and colonists in North America, and later by the United States and Canadian governments and American and Canadian settle ...
*
Manifest destiny Manifest destiny was a cultural belief in the 19th century in the United States, 19th-century United States that American settlers were destined to expand across North America. There were three basic tenets to the concept: * The special vir ...
*
Settlement of the Americas The settlement of the Americas began when Paleolithic hunter-gatherers entered North America from the North Asian Mammoth steppe via the Beringia land bridge, which had formed between northeastern Siberia and western Alaska due to the lowering of ...
*
List of rivers of Nebraska This is a partial list of rivers in Nebraska (U.S. state). By tributary Missouri River *''Cheyenne River (SD)'' **Hat Creek * White River *Niobrara River ** Burgess Creek ** Bingham Creek **Snake River ** Long Pine Creek ** Keya Paha River ** ...


References

Rivers of Madison County, Nebraska Rivers of Nebraska {{Nebraska-river-stub