"Black Hawk War Indians" Topic

Should I use Woodland-type Indians for the natives that fought in the Black Hawk War? Also, who makes the best/varied poses of Woodland Indians in 15mm? Thank you.

By the way, I didn't mean to crosspost this topic on the 18th Century message board, as the Black Hawk War was fought in 1831-32. Dang technology!

What state?

Anything up to the Mississippi should be woodland.

The Blackhawk War was fought in northern Illinois and southeern Wisconsin. And, yes, woodland Indians are appropriate - preferably Shawnee/Ottawa/Chippewa types rather than Iroquois.

I'm assuming you've read Eckert's book on the war. "Twilight of Empire", IIRC.

I haven't, rmaker, but you gave me a great suggestion for some Memorial Day weekend reading. Thanks!

There is an excellent website that provides detailed information on the Blackhawk War. It includes online copies of several books that can be searched. There also are pictures, maps, and a nice summary. The tribes involved were primarily Fox and Sauk with some Kickapoo and Winnebago. Many other tribes in the area had young dudes who took the opportunity of the confusion to raid various settlements throughout nothern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. Old Glory has 25mm figures available for Fox and Sauk. I also think that Sioux without feathered headdresses would be suitable, especially if not bare chested. Note that Blawkhawk had a fairly well armed warrior contingent who used muskets.

The website is:

lincoln.lib.niu.edu/blackhawk

I recently visted several Blackhawk War sites in northern Illinois including a rebuilt settler stockade near Elizabeth, Illinois. This URL gets you their site (which also has good information):

appleriverfort.com

I recommend using Microsoft Explorer on this one as it comes out a real mess when using Netscape.

The largest "stand up" battle was fought in southern Wisconsin near Sauk City. This URL provides a virtual tour of the battlefield:

link

A good set of rules for most of the smaller fights is Muskets and Mohawks by Two Hour Wargames.

I think this also may keep you busy over the holiday weekend.

Great deal, gamertom! Thank you. Semper fi!

Well done gamertom. I'll add that I own several bags of Old Glory Sauk & Fox (mounted and dismounted, none painted yet) and these figures have a few peculiarities that merit a brief review.

Their hairstyle is odd. They appear to be wearing porcupine-quill roaches over long hair. The roaches are well documented, but all the contemporary paintings of S&F warriors show them with shaved heads. It looks like it will be difficult to remove the figures' long hair, if I even attempt it.

Their weaponry is odd. They all carry shields, warclubs and/or spears. There's not a musket in the lot, nor a bow. Black Hawk's warriors definitely used muskets. Of course you could carve off a warclub and glue on a musket, but these figures also lack shot pouches and powder horns, so you'll have to either add those yourself or do without.

The figures come in two parts. Head and upper torso are seperate from the legs. For the mounted figures, the legs are molded to the horse. This allows the hobbyist to create a variety of poses by assembling different torso/leg combinations. But I suspect some torso/leg combos are going to fit together better than others. Also, I wouldn't trust the join to superglue - I plan to drill and pin the parts together, and use epoxy glue.

It's going to be quite a little craft project to turn this lot into Black Hawk's warriors. I may noever go through with it. But, in their favor, I'll say that the Old Glory Sauk and Fox look different from all the other 28mm Injuns on the market, and they look more like Sauk and Fox warriors than like anything else.

Would Knuckledusters Grand River indians fit in this war?
Mark

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