The above map shows the village site and the territory which Black Hawk wished par- ticularly to retain for his followers. It is bounded by the Mississippi and Rock rivers and Pleasant Valley. It was from this parcel of their one-time empire that he ordered the white settlers in the Spring of 1831, telling them, as recorded by one of themþJ. W. Spencer, in his "Reminiscences," p. 34þthey must go either south of Rock river or east of Pleasant Valley.
This tract has an unbroken ridge or backbone extending all the way from Carbon Cliff to Black Hawk's Watch Tower, the last named being its most charming natural feature. This ridge has many indentations, with projecting bluffs between, which provide picturesque homesites for the residents of Moline, East Moline, Silvis, Rock Island and others, while the river banks are becoming increasingly popular for Summer cottages.
That it has long been a favorite spot is proven by the numerous mounds built by pre- historic peoples, and by fragments of pottery, chipped flints, arrowheads, and implements of stone found scattered from end to end of this ridge and about its slopes and shores.