Places: Credit Island, Davenport, Iowa

Trading posts on the frontier worked on a system of credit.  Natives who routinely visited the trading post to trade hides could purchase needed supplies on credit, working off their expenses by bringing in more hides, similar to paying a modern grocery bill on a running tab.  One such trading post was located on an Island in the Mississippi River in the midst of what are now the Quad Cities.  Credit Island has gone by a number of names over the years, such as Suburban Island or Offerman's Island, but the one that seemed to stick and become the official name was Credit.

It was at Credit Island that a young army officer and future POTUS named Zachary Taylor got one of two tastes of defeat at the hands of Natives.  A war party of Sac met up with a small detachment under then-Major Taylor on September 4-5, 1814 in one of the westernmost battles of the War of 1812.  The Sac won and Taylor's men had to beat a hasty retreat back to more welcoming territory. Taylor wasn't the only future celebrity on the field.  A young warrior named Black Hawk likely commanded the war party.  The British provided at least three small cannon, which still delivered a blistering smack-down to Taylor's pride.  It wouldn't be the first time he'd be handed his desserts by a Native war party. 

Great Leader: Keokuk of the Sauk

Time and again on this blog we've run across Native leaders who've tried to co-operate and co-exist with Whites, only to be bitterly disappointed later.  Keokuk of the Sauk, a rival and bitter enemy of Black Hawk, presents another case.

Keokuk (1767-1848) was already an old man when the Black Hawk War broke out in 1832.  There are few details known of his life, where he was born, or how he attained leadership in the Sauk tribe.  A Settler who met him described him as a principal warrior of the Sauk, a shrewd politic man as well as a brave one, who possessed great weight in tribal councils.  He also noted that Keokuk was high-minded, and honorable and noted an incident where Keokuk arrested two deserting soldiers and brought them back to the nearest US military fort for punishment. 

During the Black Hawk War, Keokuk tried to keep the Sauk out of the conflict and brought himself into conflict with Black Hawk.  Some Sauk joined Black Hawk's movement, though Keokuk cooperated with the US government in sending scouts and other members of his band to act as auxiliaries to American troops.  Eventually, the Jackson Administration decided to recognized Keokuk as leader of the Sauk and Fox tribes, a decision that further angered and embittered Black Hawk.  Keokuk's people were given land in return for their cooperation, but were late forced to remove to Kansas, where he died.

The town of Keokuk, Iowa is named for him.  His remains were returned from Kansas and reinterred there with a monument erected in 1913.