after they would dwell together in harmony and peace. He then caused a letter from the President to be read, admonishing the captives to cultivate the friendship of their neighbors, to hunt and support their families, and threatening the severest penalties if they again disturbed the frontiers. Keokuk replied: "We receive our brothers in friendship. Our hearts are good towards them. They have listened to bad counsel; now their ears are closed. I give my hand to them; when they shake it they shake the hands of all. I will shake hands with them and then I am done."

Major Garland, to be more explicit, again arose and stated that it must be distinctly understood that the two bands of the Sacs and Foxes must now be merged into one; that Black Hawk must listen to the council of Keokuk, and that the President would hereafter recognise the latter as the principal chief of the nation. When Black Hawk understood that he was required to conform to the advice of his rival, he became deeply agitated and his excited passions burst forth with uncontrollable violence. With intense indignation of countenance and the vehemence which characterizes the savage when roused to action, as soon as he could control his feelings sufficient to articulate, he exclaimed: "I am a man; I will not conform to the counsel of any one. I will act for myself; no one shall govern me. I am old; my hair is gray. I once gave counsel to my young men; am I now to conform to others? I will soon go the Great Spirit where I shall be at rest. What I said to our great father in Washington I say again. I will always listen to him. I am done." Keokuk apologized for his indiscretion, say ing: "Our brother who has come to us has spoken, but he did it in wrath; his tongue was double and his words were not like a Sac. He knew they were bad. He trembled like the oak whose roots have been wasted by many rains. He is old; what he said let us forget. He says he did not mean it; he wishes it forgotten. I have spoken for him. What I have said are his own words." Major Garland now informed the humbled chieftain that he was satisfied that his conduct in the future would be acceptable to the people of the United States, and that he and his fellow prisoners might now consider themselves at liberty. The council then adjourned, and early the next morning the Indians crossed the Mississippi and dispersed to their respective homes in the forest.

A violent war having subsequently broken out between the Sacs and Foxes and Sioux, in the autumn of 1837 Black Hawk again visited Washington with a deputation of chiefs who had been invited thither by the President, for the purpose of adjusting their difficulties. After their return he settled in what is now Lee County, Iowa, where he spent the winter. In the spring of 1838 he moved his family to the Des Moines, and built him a dwelling near the village of his tribe, 20 miles above the mouth of the river. He furnished his new wigwam after the manner of the whites, cultivated a few acres in corn, melons and other vegetables, and when visited by the Americans entertained them with true Indian hospitality. The following autumn he visited an Indian trader, near Burlington, and as the result of exposure, on his return he contracted a disease which terminated his life. His countrymen with the reverential respect which they had for the dead, assem

bled to bury the mortal remains of their departed chief. The body dressed in a uniform which had been presented to him in one of his eastern tours by the Secretary of War, was born to its last resting place by four of his warriors. The grave was an excavation 6 feet deep, and into this the body was deposited in an upright pos ture, with the right hand resting on a cane which had been presented to him by Henry Clay. A mound several feet high was thrown up over the grave, at the head of which was planted a staff bearing the flag of the United States, and at the foot a post on which was carved in Indian characters, the age of the deceased. Those in attendance at the funeral expressed their sorrow after the usual manner of the tribe, by shaking hands and uttering prayers that the spirit of the chief might have a safe entrance into the land prepared for the reception of souls.

Thus, after an adventurous and shifting life of 72 years, Black Hawk was gathered to his fathers. The banner of war fell nerveless from his grasp; his voice at the council fire was heard no more, and his restless ambition was stilled in the sleep of death. While the rustling October leaves, moved by the sighing winds, chanted a requiem over his ashes, the liberated shade sped to the happy hunting grounds beyond the setting sun, which, according to Indian theology, only the good and the brave are permitted to enter.

Perhaps no one of his race excelled Black Hawk in humanity and love of country. He always repelled with indignation the charge that he murdered women and children, or mistreated his prisoners. His patriotism is seen in the last speech he ever made in the presence of the Americans, who had driven him from the ancestral seat of his tribe: "Rock river was a beautiful country. I like my towns, my cornfields, and the home of my people. I fought for it; it is now yours; it will produce you good crops." These sentiments were not only creditable to the heart of the speaker, but essential in forming a just estimate of his motives in contesting the removal of his people from their native land. In his domestic relations, he was kind and effectionate, and unlike other chiefs, never had but one wife.* After his campaign in the British army, his first act was to visit his family. "I have started," says he, "to visit my wife and children. I found them well, and my boys growing finely. It is not customary for us to say much about our women, as they generally perform their part cheerfully, and never interfere with the business belonging to the men. This is the only wife I ever had, or ever will have; she is a good woman, and teaches my boys to be brave." In his private relations his integrity was not questioned, and when in a public capacity he disregarded treaties, he was actuated rather by

It is said, however, upon good authority, that on a certain occasion, his vow of exclusive devotion to one wife had well nigh been broken. While visiting a respectable frontier settler, many years since. he became pleased with the comely daughter of his host, and having seriously contemplated the matter, decided in favor of the expediency of adding the pale-faced beauty to the domestic circle of his wigwam. He accordingly expressed his wishes to the father of the young lady, and proffered to give him a horse in exchange for his daughter, but to his surprise, the offer was declined. Some days afterward, he returned and tendered two fine horses, but still the father refused to make the arrangement. The old chief's love for the young lady, growing stronger, in proportion to the difficulty of gaining her father's consent, subsequently he offered six horses for her, but even this munificent price was rejected by the mercenary father. Black Hawk now gave up the negotiation, not surprised at the high value which the white men placed upon their daughters

a little

wrongs which he had suffered, than want of respect for his obligaions. A dispassionate view of the war and its causes, will show that he had grievances, and when it was impossible to redress them in a peaceable manner, appealed to arms as the only arbitrament.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

1834-1838-ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR DUNCAN.

The Campaign-Life and Character of Duncan-More State Banks and what became of them-Slavery Agitation by Lovejoy-His Death.

At the general election of August 1834, Joseph Duncan was elected governor of the State. His principal opponent was exLieut. Gov. Kinney, who was again an aspirant for gubernatorial honors. Duncan was elected by a handsome majority: 17,330 votes to Kinney's 10,224; Robert McLaughlin received 4,320 and James Adams 887 votes for the same office. The candidates for lieutenantgovernor were Alexander M. Jenkins, who received 13,795 votes; James Evans, 8,609; William B. Archer, 8,573, and Samuel Webster, 69.

Gov. Duncan was born at Paris, Kentucky, February 23d, 1794. We have already noted his services in the war of 1812, under Col. Croghan at Fort Stephenson, when he was yet quite young. In Illinois he first appeared in a public capacity as major-general of the militia, a position which his military fame procured him. Subsequently he became a State senator from Jackson county, and is honorably mentioned for introducing the first bill providing for a free school system. In 1826, as we have seen, he gained great eclat by beating Daniel P. Cook for Congress, when in previous contests with the latter, such men as John Mc'Lean, Elias K. Kane, and Gov. Bond had met with disaster. From that time down to his election as governor, Duncan retained his seat in Congress. The first and bloodless year of the Black Hawk war he was appointed by Gov. Reynolds brigadier-general of the volununteers, and conducted his brigade to Rock Island. Duncan was a man of limited education, but with naturally fine abilities he profited greatly by his various public services, and gathered a store of knowledge regarding public affairs which served him a ready purpose. He possessed a clear judgement, decision, confidence in himself and moral courage to carry out his convictions of right. In his deportment he was well adapted to gain the admiration of the people. His intercourse with them was affable, courteous and dignified. He inspired confidence and attached to himself unswerving friends.*

During the gubernatorial campaign Duncan was absent in Washington attending congress, and did not personally participate in "His portrait at the Governor's mansion presents him with swarthy complexion, high cheek bones, broad forehead, piercing black eyes and straight black hair.

it, but addressed circulars to his constituents. His election was attributed to the circumstance of his absence, because his estrangment from Jackson-erst his political idol-and the Democracy, largely in ascendency in the State, was really complete; but while his defection was well known to his Whig friends, and also to the leading Jackson men of this State, the latter were unable to carry conviction of the fact to the masses. The dissemination of public events was not then facilitated by means of the telegraph and press, as now. President Jackson had crushed the U. S. Bank with an arbitrary if not tyranical hand; he had vetoed bills containing appropriations for improving the channel of the great Wabash river and for the harbor at Chicago. These were Western measures which Duncan had greatly at heart, and hence he refused to longer follow the dictatorial course of the "Military Chieftain." His personal admiration of the old hero was changed to hatred of his acts. This course, so far as his political fortune was concerned, was an error; but no one could say that the step thus taken was not sincere. He had preferment to gain by remaining attached to the dominant party, and nothing but disappointment to look forward to in breaking with it. He committed the unpardonable sin in politics, and was charged with inconsistency and betrayal of his former supporters.*

These will ever be the the fossilized views of men regarding party ties or affiliations. Under such circumstances no concession is made by old party associates for the changed condition of the times; for the death of former issues or the obtrusion of live ones, unencountered in past strifes. No leniency for new public questions is extended between violent partizans; every man is guaged by a party standard, irrespective of the principles he advocates. Duncan stood bravely to his new colors and never regretted, it is said, his change, made upon careful and candid examination of the Jackson measures.

In his inaugural message, which was largely devoted to the discussion of national politics, Duncan threw off the mask and took a bold stand against the course of the President. Notwithstanding his defection, and the fact of a large majority in the legislature being opposed to him, his recommendations relating to State affairs were most fully seconded and carried out. The laying out of public highways while the State was unsettled and they could be made straight between most of the important points with little expense or difficulty, as urged by him, was responded to by the enactment of laws not only giving authority to county commissioners for these purposes, but by granting 42 State roads besides, and at the special session of the year following 40 more were added. Equally liberal were they with reference to the canal and charters for railroads.

To the subject of banking he called attention as follows: "Banks may be made exceedingly useful in society, not only by affording an opportunity to the widow, the orphan and aged, who possess capital without the capacity of employing it in ordinary

It is related that an old constituent rebuked him as follows: "Now Gov. Duncan, we Jackson men took you up when you was poor and friendless; we put you in high office and enable you to make a fortune, and for all this you have deserted us and gone to the Adams men. You was like a poor colt; we caught you up out of a thicket, fed you on the best, combed the burrs out of your mane and tail. and made a fine horse of you; and now you have strayed away from your owners."-Ford's History.