The Plum River raid was a bloodless skirmish that occurred at present-day
Savanna, Illinois, on May 21, 1832, as part of the
Black Hawk War
The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis (Fox), and Kickapoos, known as the "British Band", crosse ...
. Most of the settlement's inhabitants, except for a few defenders, had fled for
Galena, Illinois, before the raid happened. A small band of
Native Americans, either
Sauk or
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
, attacked the settlement while only three of the six defenders were present. The men who were present fell back to the
blockhouse
A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...
and a firefight ensued for about one hour, after which the attackers withdrew. No one was killed or injured during the attack, but in its aftermath Colonel
James M. Strode dispatched a detachment of militia to Savanna. They returned to Galena without incident and the settlement at Savanna was temporarily abandoned.
Background
As a consequence of an 1804 treaty between the
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
of
Indiana Territory and a group of Sauk and Fox leaders regarding land settlement, the Sauk and Fox tribes vacated their lands in
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
and moved west of the
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
in 1828. However, Sauk Chief
Black Hawk Black Hawk and Blackhawk may refer to:
Animals
* Black Hawk (horse), a Morgan horse that lived from 1833 to 1856
* Common black hawk, ''Buteogallus anthracinus''
* Cuban black hawk, ''Buteogallus gundlachii''
* Great black hawk, ''Buteogallus ur ...
and others disputed the treaty, claiming that the full tribal councils had not been consulted, nor did those representing the tribes have authorization to cede lands.
[ Angered by the loss of his birthplace, between 1830–31 Black Hawk led a number of incursions across the ]Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
, but was persuaded to return west each time without bloodshed. In April 1832, encouraged by promises of alliance with other tribes and the British, he again moved his so-called "British Band" of around 1000 warriors and non-combatants into Illinois.[Lewis, James.]
The Black Hawk War of 1832
" Abraham Lincoln Digitization Project, ''Northern Illinois University''. Retrieved March 26, 2018. Finding no allies, he attempted to return across the Mississippi (to modern Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
), but ensuing events led to the Battle of Stillman's Run.[May 14: Black Hawk's Victory at the Battle of Stillman's Run]
" Historic Diaries: The Black Hawk War, ''Wisconsin State Historical Society''. Retrieved August 6, 2007. A number of other engagements followed and the militia of Michigan Territory and the state of Illinois were mobilized to hunt down Black Hawk's band. The conflict became known as the Black Hawk War
The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis (Fox), and Kickapoos, known as the "British Band", crosse ...
. After Stillman's Run, an ambush at Buffalo Grove killed one militia member two days before the raid on the Plum River settlement.
Prelude
The settlement at the mouth of the Plum River
The Plum River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, about long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 in northwestern Illinois in the United States. It rises i ...
was established in 1827 when copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
was discovered near the Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
.[Carter, Greg.]
Plum River Fight 1832
" ''Old Lead Regional Historical Society'', 2004. Retrieved August 13, 2007. When the Black Hawk War erupted in 1832, the settlement at Plum River consisted of 25 people. When the settlers were informed of Black Hawk's invasion they were undecided about whether or not to abandon their homes for safer grounds in Galena, Illinois.[ In the end, while nearby towns such as ]Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
emptied of their residents, the citizens at Plum River decided to send the women and children to Galena and leave the men to stick it out on the frontier.[ They partially disassembled two of the settlement's homes and constructed a blockhouse for protection. Left to defend the impromptu fortifications were Aaron Pierce, Vance Davidson, Robert Upton, William Blundell, Leonard Goss and a man known as Hays.][ On May 19 another group of militia volunteers were ambushed at ]Buffalo Grove
Buffalo Grove, officially the Village of Buffalo Grove, is a village in Lake and Cook County, Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it lies about northwest of Downtown Chicago. As of the 2020 Census, Buffalo Grove has a population of 43,212. It tota ...
and two days later the more famous Indian Creek massacre
The Indian Creek Massacre occurred on May 21, 1832 with the attack by a party of Native Americans on a group of United States settlers in LaSalle County, Illinois following a dispute about a settler-constructed dam that prevented fish from reach ...
occurred (on the same day as the raid at Plum River
The Plum River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, about long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 in northwestern Illinois in the United States. It rises i ...
).
Attack
On May 21, 1832, a small raiding party made up of some independent minded braves from Keokuk's village or the Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
village at Dubuque's Mines carried out a raid on the settlement at present-day Savanna, Illinois on the Plum River.[ The party originated west of the Mississippi River and were probably motivated by a desire to collect needed supplies. When the small raiding party arrived at the settlement they found it practically deserted: only three men were present.][ Of the six men originally at the settlement, three had left when the raiding party arrived: Blundell was away, Upton was hunting nearby, and Davidson had left the area in search of a horse. Of the three men left at the settlement, Hays and Goss were trying to round up livestock, while only Pierce remained at the blockhouse.][ Pierce heard a dog barking outside and looked up to see a small band of Native Americans creeping along the river's edge. He immediately sounded the alarm and Hays and Goss sprinted for the blockhouse.][ Gunshots started to explode behind the men as they approached the protection of their makeshift fortification.
Goss darted inside, but Hays slipped and fell before he could enter the blockhouse. As he fell, three musket balls lodged themselves into the wall where he had been standing moments before. While the attackers reloaded, Hays slipped inside and for about an hour an exchange of heavy gunfire erupted between the parties before the attackers withdrew.][ Drake, Samuel Gardner. ]
Biography and History of the Indians of North America
', (Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...
), B. B. Mussey: 1832, 1851, p. 647. Retrieved August 13, 2007. A fourth man, Upton, was out hunting nearby; when he was discovered by the attackers he was chased throughout the afternoon.Trask, Kerry A.
Kerry A. Trask (born October 17, 1941) is an American historian and author. Trask has worked as a history professor at the University of Wisconsin Manitowoc for more than thirty years. Trask was also the Democratic candidate for the Wisconsin State ...
Black Hawk: The Battle for the Heart of America
', (Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...
), Henry Holt and Company, New York: 2006, p. 197-198, (). Retrieved August 13, 2007. Upton escaped the attackers injury-free. In fact, no person was killed or injured during the Plum River raid. The small raiding party escaped with three horses, but two horses were badly wounded by gunfire, and the other shot dead by the settlement's defenders.[
]
Aftermath
The men at the Plum River settlement waited overnight and then fled to Galena where they reported the incident to Colonel James M. Strode.[ He ordered a militia party to the settlement to secure it and make sure the attackers were dealt with accordingly.][ When the detachment arrived at Savanna they found no Native Americans, and plenty of bullet holes from the battle. The group continued to ]Fort Armstrong
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
, where they picked up supplies, and returned to Galena without incident.[ On June 1, then-Colonel ]Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military leader who served as the 12th president of the United States from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States Army, rising to th ...
expressed his concerns about recent events, including the Plum River raid in a letter to General Henry Atkinson. He stated that there had no doubt been an attack at the settlement, but no one was killed and the site abandoned since.[June 1, Dixon's Ferry: "Our difficulties thicken on us daily"]
" Historic Diaries: The Black Hawk War, ''Wisconsin State Historical Society''. Retrieved August 13, 2007.
Notes
{{good article
Savanna, Illinois
1832 in the United States
Plum River
The Plum River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, about long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 in northwestern Illinois in the United States. It rises i ...
Battles and conflicts without fatalities
1832 in Illinois
May 1832 events