Wisconsin Historical Collections, Volume X (1888)

              causes of the blacx hawk war barbarous treatment of indian women and children the following extracts are taken fro 11 the kentucky commonwealth of may 28th 1833 edited by the late hon orlando brown personally known to the writer of this note as an able conscientious man who was secretary of state f kentucky under gov j j crittenden ani oommissi ner of indian affairs under president taylor l c d " we have heretofore alleged the existence of a rumor that a son of black hawk had been taken prisoner and had received five hundred lashes and that this was the last in a series of outrages that shad induced his father to take up arms our authority for asserting that such a rumor ex isted is of the most respectable kind nay more we had the information from 6wo gentlemen one of whom ascended the ohio river with the indian chiefs and got his informa tion from them — the other gentleman resides near the dis puted territory and served in the campaign against black hawk the latter gentleman said that it was believed that the young tndian was treated in the unmerciful manner as described in our article upon that subject with both of these gentlemen the editor of the globe — who discredits this rumor — has a personal acquaintance and if their names were mentioned he would blush to think how reck lessly he had doubted an assertion which could be so authori tatively sustained the article in the globe is one of singu lar construction and in its zeal to correct an error admits sl fact if possible more discreditable than that from which it is endeavoring to escape after arguing — that as black hawk said nothing about the flogging of his son when he had his talk with the president that therefore he was not flogged — he proceeds to state that black hawk himself declared that he crossed the river to raise provisions where he thought he had a right to raise them and that this was the cause of the war well if his silence is conclusive