Before Settlement

Settlement & Industry

Channelization

Flooding

Human Impact

Current Management

Bibliography

It is difficult to imagine the Mississippi River in its natural, unaltered form.  However, this is how it existed for a period of time much longer than in the form we see today.  Between the years 500 B.C. and 1000 A.D. the Mississippi River brought wealth to the Native American people who thrived by the river’s edge.  Living in small settlements, they subsisted by hunting and gathering.  The Mississippi River and its tributaries were used for trade and travel for the people (Joined by a River 12).

The most well known tribes here in the Quad Cities were the Sauk and the Mesquakie Indians.  Originally from Montreal, Canada, the two tribes settled into this are as early as 1730 (Joined by a River 14).  For the Indians, the river and its rich valleys were more than adequate in providing resources for their civilizations.  The Saukenuk tribe, whose most prominent member was Black Hawk, was located at the mouth of the Rock River and had nearly 7,000 members at its height.  In the following passage, Black Hawk describes the settlement.                                             

“‘We had about 800 acres in cultivation . . . the land around our village, uncultivated, was covered with blue-grass which made excellent pasture for our horses.  Several fine springs broke out of the bluff, near by, from which we were supplied with good water.  The rapids of Rock River furnished us with an abundance of excellent fish, and the land, being good, never failed to produce good crops of corn, beans, pumpkins, and squashes.’” (Elsner 9).

While the Native Americans saw land that was sufficient for their needs, the first European settlers saw untouched wilderness that was ready to be developed.  They wanted to turn the wild and hostile natural environment into a “civilized” community (Elsner 9).  As more settlers moved into the area, tensions grew between the Native Americans and the immigrants. As white settlers encroached on the Sauk land, Black Hawk urged the settlers to find another place to live.  Black Hawk was determined to remain with his tribe at Saukenuk, even when warned that they would be removed by force if necessary.

State militia arrived on June 26, 1831, determined to remove the Saukenuk tribe.  When they marched into the Saukenuk village they found that the land was deserted.  Black Hawk and his tribe had fled to Credit Island and had no choice but to watch as the soldiers burned the Saukenuk village.  The next day Black Hawk surrendered and on June 30, 1831, he signed a treaty that gave up all claims to Sauk lands east of the Mississippi River (Elsner 13).