The Wisconsin Heights Battlefield is an area in

Dane County, Wisconsin Dane County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 561,504, making it the second-most populous county in Wisconsin. The county seat is Madison, which is also the state capital. Dane County is the ...

where the penultimate battle of the 1832

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 ...

occurred. The conflict was fought between the Illinois and Michigan Territory militias and 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 his band of warriors, who were fleeing their homeland following the

Fox Wars The Fox Wars were two conflicts between the French and the Fox (Meskwaki or Red Earth People; Renards; Outagamis) Indians that lived in the Great Lakes region (particularly near the Fort of Detroit) from 1712 to 1733.In their book ''The Fox Wars ...

. The Wisconsin Heights Battlefield is the only intact battle site from the

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 ...

in the U.S. Midwest. Today, the battlefield is managed and preserved by the state of Wisconsin as part of the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway. In 2002, it was listed on the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

History

Knowledge of the history of native tribes before the middle of the 18th century in the area of Wisconsin Heights Battlefield is limited.

Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; Fichier OrigineFor a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December 1635) was a Fre ...

is said to have heard of native tribes living "many leagues beyond Lake Huron" during the 17th century. The group Champlain heard about was known as the "Fire Nation" or the "Mascoutens." The

Mascoutens The Mascouten (also ''Mascoutin'', ''Mathkoutench'', ''Muscoden,'' or ''Musketoon'') were a tribe of Algonquian-speaking Native Americans located in the Midwest. They are believed to have dwelt on both sides of the Mississippi River, adjacent to ...

, along with the Kickapoo and

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

were probably settled in the area around the Fox River and claimed much of the land to the south, including the battlefield, as their hunting grounds. Eventually, the Mascoutens, Kickapoo and Miami migrated further south along the shore of

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

.Cole, Harry Ellsworth, ed.
A Standard History of Sauk County, Wisconsin: Volume I
', Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1918, pp. 166–184. Retrieved September 16, 2007. The relocated Mascoutens were replaced by the influx of Sauk and Fox following the

in the western

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

and Detroit regions. After the conflicts, the remaining Sauk and

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 ...

sought refuge together in lands further west, extending north from the

Wisconsin River The Wisconsin River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At approximately 430 miles (692 km) long, it is the state's longest river. The river's name, first recorded in 1673 by Jacques Marquette as "Meskousi ...

to the

Illinois River The Illinois River ( mia, Inoka Siipiiwi) is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River and is approximately long. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, it has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins at the confluence of the D ...

in the south. Other settlements were established north of the Missouri River.James Lewis,
Background
" The Black Hawk War of 1832, Abraham Lincoln Digitization Project, Northern Illinois University. Retrieved September 16, 2007. The area known as the Wisconsin Heights Battlefield was the site of the penultimate engagement of the 1832

, fought between the United States

state militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

and allies, and the Sauk and

tribes, led by

. The battle took place in what is now

Dane County Dane County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 561,504, making it the second-most populous county in Wisconsin. The county seat is Madison, which is also the state capital. Dane County is the ...

, near the present-day

Sauk County Sauk County is a county in Wisconsin. It is named after a large village of the Sauk people. As of the 2020 census, the population was 65,763. Its county seat and largest city is Baraboo. The county was created in 1840 from Wisconsin Territory a ...

–Dane County line. Despite being outnumbered and sustaining heavy casualties, Black Hawk's warriors managed to delay the combined forces long enough to allow the majority of the Sauk and Fox civilians in the group to escape across the

. The battlefield has been described as "beautiful and romantic". Through the early 1920s the area remained privately owned.O. D. Brandenburg,
Historic Site of the Black Hawk Battlefield at Wisconsin Heights, and pretty is the dale to which the Indians fled
" ''Madison Democrat'', September 26, 1920. Retrieved September 16, 2007. On a cloudless Labor Day, September 3, 1923, 500 people gathered at the battlefield for the dedication of a marker at the site. A four-foot Bedford limestone marker was installed by a group consisting of the Madison Chapter of the

Daughters of the American Revolution The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence. A non-profit group, they promote ...

(DAR), the Wisconsin Historical Society, and the State Archaeological Society. The monument carried the following inscription: For 30 years the DAR marker stood as the sole monument to the battle. The Wisconsin Historical Society installed a metal interpretive marker at the site in 1957. In 1989 Wisconsin Act 31 established the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway, a stretch of the Wisconsin River that includes from

Prairie du Sac Prairie du Sac is a village in Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 4,420 at the 2020 census. The village is surrounded by the Town of Prairie du Sac, the Wisconsin River, and the village of Sauk City; together, Prairie du Sa ...

to the river's confluence with 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 ...

. The Riverway includes the Wisconsin Heights Battlefield, which is protected from future development because of its status as part of the Riverway.Lower Wisconsin State Riverway Board
Retrieved September 16, 2007. Historians continued to shed light on the Battle of Wisconsin Heights and in 1992 a new interpretive marker was installed. The site was dedicated by then-Wisconsin Governor

Tommy Thompson Tommy George Thompson (born November 19, 1941) is an American Republican politician who most recently served as interim president of the University of Wisconsin System from 2020 to 2022. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served ...

in 1998 during Wisconsin's

sesquicentennial An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saints. ...

celebration.

Battlefield

At the time of the Black Hawk War the Wisconsin Heights Battlefield was a marshy area located in the hills along the

William Rudolph Smith William Rudolph Smith (August 31, 1787August 22, 1868) was an American lawyer, politician, pioneer, and historian from Pennsylvania who served as the 5th Attorney General of Wisconsin and the first President of the Wisconsin Historical Society. ...

,
The History of Wisconsin: In Three Parts, Historical, Documentary, and Descriptive
', B. Brown: 1854, pp. 228–230. Retrieved September 16, 2007. The battlefield is located within the Black Hawk Unit of the state managed and owned Lower Wisconsin State Riverway, along Highway 78, about a mile south of County Road Y, south of Sauk City. There are trails, a historic marker and a parking area at the site.Dennis McCann,
Black Hawk's name, country's shame lives on
, ''Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel'', April 28, 2007. Retrieved September 16, 2007. Though the area around the battle site does not include modern amenities, such as plumbing and toilets, the trails within the Black Hawk Unit of the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway stretch three miles (5 km) over rugged terrain. One of the trails, the Wisconsin Heights Battlefield Trail, branches from the main loop and travels through the battle site.Martin Hintz, ''Hiking Wisconsin'', Human Kinetics: 1997, p. 103. Retrieved September 16, 2007. The battlefield has three key areas affiliated with the clash that can be viewed at the modern-day site: "Militia Ridge," where companies of Illinois and Michigan Territory militia formed up for battle; "Sharpshooter Lookout," an overlook where Sauk and Fox warriors opened fire on the militia; and "Spy's Ravine," the area between the ridge and lookout. The whole of the battlefield is best viewed from Sharpshooter Lookout.
Old Lead Regional Historical Society. Retrieved September 16, 2007.

Significance

The Wisconsin Heights Battlefield is the only intact battle site from the

found in the

U.S. Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

.David Gjestson,
In the shadow of Wisconsin Heights
" ''Wisconsin Natural Resources Magazine'', June 1998. Retrieved September 16, 2007. This significance led to its inclusion in the U.S.

on January 31, 2002. It is one of five 1832 Black Hawk War battle sites listed on the National Register. The others are

Kellogg's Grove Kellogg's Grove is an area in western Stephenson County, Illinois, United States near the present-day unincorporated town of Kent. The grove is considered historically significant because it was the site of two minor skirmishes during the Black ...

Apple River Fort Apple River Fort, today known as the Apple River Fort State Historic Site, was one of many frontier forts hastily completed by settlers in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin following the onset of the 1832 Black Hawk War. Located in presen ...

, Fort Blue Mounds, and Stillman's Run. The Wisconsin Heights battle site is marked by an official Wisconsin historical marker.Prairie du Sac and Sauk City, Highways 12, 60 & 78
" Lower Wisconsin State Riverway Board. Retrieved September 16, 2007. It is not entirely certain that this is the site of the Battle of Wisconsin Heights, but historical sources identify this town and section, and the terrain matches ridges and swamps in descriptions of the battle. Archaeologists working with the Wisconsin DNR have looked for evidence of the battle by visual inspection, by metal detector, and by ground-penetrating radar. Along with modern shotgun shell casings and pop-tops, they found several lead balls from the era of the Black Hawk War, two cartridge case buckles, and a fastener for a leather bag. These don't seem like much evidence, but no archaeological evidence at all has been turned up at other Black Hawk War battlefields. With

Notes

External links

Black Hawk's account of the battleCol. Henry Dodge's account of the battle
{{Black Hawk War (1832) Black Hawk War Geography of Dane County, Wisconsin Battlefields of the wars between the United States and Native Americans Conflict sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin 1832 in Michigan Territory National Register of Historic Places in Dane County, Wisconsin