The Life and Adventures of Chief Black Hawk

"If the present volume shall, in any degree, contribute to awaken the public mind to a sense of the wrongs inflicted upon the Indians, and to arouse the Christian statesmen of this land, to the adoption of a more liberal, upright and benevolent course of policy towards them, something will have been gained to the cause of humanity and of national honor." -Benjamin Drake "Until the present book, we had had but little of an accurate and comprehensive account of the contest; and, till Mr. Drake took the matter in hand, no one had attempted an investigation into the causes. The result of Mr. Drake's labors is before us; and not doubting but that a rapid Sketch of the rise and progress of the Black Hawk War will be very acceptable to our readers, we shall at once proceed with one, premising that Mr. Drake is to be our authority." -The Hesperian, Volume 1, 1838 "In presenting to the public the life and adventures of Black Hawk, some account of the Sac and Fox Indians-of Keokuk, their distinguished chief-and of the causes which led to the late contest between these tribes and the United States, was necessarily involved. The introduction of these collateral subjects, may possibly impart additional interest to this volume. "In speaking of the policy of the government towards the fragment of Sacs and Foxes, with whom Black Hawk was associated, it has been necessary to censure some of its acts, and to comment with freedom upon the official conduct of a few public officers. "The Indians are frequently denounced as faithless, ferocious and untameable. Without going into the inquiry, how far this charge is founded in truth, the question may be asked, has not the policy of our government contributed, essentially, to impart to them that character? Have we not more frequently met them in bad faith, than in a Christian spirit? and sustained our relations with them, more by the power of the sword than the law of kindness? In the inscrutable ways of Providence, the Indians are walking in ignorance and moral darkness. It is the solemn duty, and should be the highest glory of this nation, to bring them out of that condition, and elevate them in the scale of social and intellectual being. But, how is this duty performed? We gravely recognize them as an independent people, and treat them as vassals: We make solemn compacts with them, which we interpret as our interest dictates, but punish them if they follow the example: We admit their title to the land which they occupy, and at the same time literally compel them to sell it to us upon our own terms: We send agents and missionaries to reclaim them from the error of their ways-to bring them from the hunter to the pastoral life; and yet permit our citizens to debase them by spirituous liquors, and cheat them out of their property: We make war upon them without any adequate cause-pursue them without mercy-and put them to death, without regard to age, sex or condition: And, then deliberately proclaim to the world, that they are savages-cruel and untameable-degraded and faithless." -Benjamin Drake

In the preface to The Great Indian Chief of the West: Or Life and Adventures of Black Hawk, Benjamin Drake shared with the reader the hope that his book might contribute to awaken the public mind to a sense of the wrongs inflicted upon the Indians, and to arouse the Christian statesmen of this land to the adoption of a more liberal, upright and benevolent course of policy towards them. Of course, that benevolent course of policy was never adopted. Between the Black Hawk War of 1832 and the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890, numerous wars, campaigns, and massacres took place west of the Mississippi. Benjamin Drake first published this excellent history on Black Hawk and the war named after him just six years after that war ended. This new edition, which marks the 175th anniversary of the Black Hawk War, reproduces the 1856 edition of Drake's book, retaining the original punctuation but modernizing the spelling.

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