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Editorial Review Product Description
Â"Blending history with ethnography and a bit of sociology, Trask's volume explains the war and its lingering impact extremely well . . . Fascinating.Â"
Â--Chicago Sun-Times
In the spring of 1832, Black Hawk and his Sauk followers, including 700 warriors, rose up in a rage and defiantly crossed the Mississippi to reclaim their ancestral home in Illinois. The rebellion was dashed in just three months, yet no other violent encounter between white America and native people embodies so clearly the U.S. Republic's conflict between exalted ideals of freedom and human dignity and its insatiable appetite for territory.
Until 1822, the 6,000-strong Sauk Nation had occupied one of North America's largest Indian settlements, just east of the Mississippi. Supported by hundreds of acres of planted fields, their domain was the envy of white Americans who had already begun to encroach upon the rich land. When the conflicts between natives and white squatters inevitably turned violent, the Sauks were forced into exile, uprooted and banished to the uncharted west.
Resurrecting the heroic efforts of Black Hawk and his men, Trask illuminates the tragic history of frontier America through the eyes of those who were cast aside in the pursuit of manifest destiny.
Customer Reviews (10) 
Great condition
Book was in GREAT condition- also a great read. This was a gift to a friend who lives in Galena near where one of the battles took place and it made a great addition to her collection of books on the Territory. Books are always great gifts!Thanks again for your honesty regarding the condition of the book.....as we buy site unseen.....and rely on the seller.
Well written, but an ultimate letdown
This book should have been titled "The Men that Fought Black Hawk," as it deals more with the American forces than Black Hawk himself and his Indian band. While this is certainly an invited viewpoint that is perhaps under-represented in this famous conflict, I felt a little deceived. I had bought this book to learn more about the enigmatic nature of Black Hawk himself, and found little more than generalizations that described him as confused or powerless.
Trask dutifully chronicles the American side of the conflict with great skill and pace, and for this he should be commended. But the Native side of the story is (as usual) left out. The book starts off with two promising chapters explaining why the Sauk were so upset in light of the changing world around them. A later chapters discusses the Sauk practices regarding war and battle, but the rest of the book is devoted to American troop movements and military correspondence. At this point, I couldn't help but feel that the book was being told solely from the American point of view. Trask has crafted a well researched and highly articulate book with a very narrow focus, and it just wasn't what had been promised by both the title and the description on the back cover.
Unless you're a big 19th century American military buff, I would search for other resources to better understand the Black Hawk conflict.
Worth a read...
Dr. Trasks's work FINALLY attempts to balance the Black Hawk War with something other than Black Hawk-- the hundreds of other personalities and downright characters that participated in the 12 week war. A bold, even radical departure from the tired monographs from the 1970s on the same subject. For a change, Black Hawk is looked at as a human being-- and not a sub-diety-- and major players including Dodge and Henry are seen in the significant roles thay played-- and not as smaller than life 'angry white guys.'
The book does have some drawbacks. I agree with the numerous post-modern "Professorisms" that leak into the book (as mentioned by a previous reviewer.) Trask ardently refuses to cut through the the accounts of Stillman's Run to present his interpretation of what happened.
Three American accounts indicated that BH's men fired first; BH does not indicate that in his autobiography-- and Trask waivers between "can't decide" and siding with BH anyway. Trask makes mincemeat of early settlers (calling the frontiersman a "myth" and presenting a big dissertation regarding Trask's use of James Fennimore Cooper's work as an example of an indian captivity story upon which the myth subsisted. unfortunately he neglects to tell his readers that the captive narrrative in Cooper's "Last of the Mohicans" was in part based on TRUE events!
All in all, the narrative is much more balanced that previous works, and is generally insightful into the conflict as a product of its times. Buy or borrow it.
Excellent book
I purchased this book for my history buff husband.He loved it.Great writing.
A Well-Researched, Informative Read
This book gives detailed information related to the causes, effects, and events leading up to, and including the BLACK HAWK WAR.While the title suggests the book is a biography of Black Hawk's life, it is not that at all--and this did not disappoint me in the least.
Trask tells the story with just the right amount of depth, and in a contemporary, reader-friendly style.I had read a few other books about the BLACK HAWK WAR and Black Hawk's autobiography, but this book was more thorough, and easily understood.There are ample footnotes and resources listed in the apppendix for those who desire further research.
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