Black Hawk War Guide
Landmarks, Battlefields, Museums and Firsthand Accounts
By Ben Strand; Foreword by Kealan Hamilton-Youngbird
A detailed maps, GPS and physical street addresses of dozens of Black Hawk War sites, museums, and areas of interest are included in the glossary of the Black Hawk War Guide.
A few suggested routes to explore, the Black Hawk War, are below.
- A Driftless Drive. Explore the unique Driftless area of Wisconsin and Iowa
- Chicago area museums and sites
- Mississippi River Road. Follow America’s iconic river as you explore area history
- The Lincoln Highway. Depart Chicago for Iowa and visit the Meskwaki Settlement
- Abraham Lincoln’s Path. From Springfield, IL to Fort Atkinson, Wi, follow a young Lincoln’s role in the Black Hawk War.
Driftless Drive
Available to download on your Kindle: A Guide to the Black Hawk War
The Driftless area of Wisconsin and Iowa, is a unique geological region that was the location of the majority of battles during the Black Hawk War (see Maps page for detailed information).
The Mining Museum and Rollo Jamison Museum
The Platteville Mining Museum extrapolates on the science and long history of mining in the region. While the mine itself that resides underneath the museum is a more modern hole in the ground, the exhibits describe the mining techniques of Native Americans as well as the early miners in the Northwest Territory. Guests can tour the bowels of a drippy manmade cavern. The tour isn’t for those with claustrophobic tendencies. The tour includes a ride in a working outdoor railroad gauge that was specifically run underground in area mines. The experience is nicely paired with the tour of Cave of the Mounds an hour east in Mount Horeb.
405 East Main Street Platteville, WI, 53818
https://mining.jamison.museum
Pendarvis: Wisconsin State Historical Site
Mineral Point was a major center of commerce during the Black Hawk War. With a population larger than Chicago’s, the city was a trading center for settlers in the region. Today, Mineral Point boasts a historic downtown and numerous grand limestone and brick homes that preserve the frontier legacy.
Pendarvis is a restored mining settlement managed by the Wisconsin State Historic Site. Mineral Point, Wisconsin.
114 Shakerag Street Mineral Point, WI, 53565
https://pendarvis.wisconsinhistory.org
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Tower Hill State Park – Henela Shot Tower
Helena was a key river crossing and lead refining and shipping center. The community became a ghost town and is now a campground and state natural area. The shot tower has been reconstructed.
5808 County Road C Spring Green, WI, 53588
https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/parks/towerhill
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Shullsburg Bader Mine and Museum
The hardscrabble life of a frontier miner is shared at the Shullsburg Badger Mine Museum. Shullsburg is home to some of Wisconsin’s most authentic and distinctive cheesemakers, some of whom have benefited by using the abandoned caves in the area that were vestiges of the former mining industry. While the hills around Shullsburg look sturdy as far as hills go, one can’t help but be amazed by how much of the earth and stone underneath the townsfolk have been removed. The museum features a tour of a mine shaft from the 1850s.
A few miles away from Shullsburg, William Hamilton, the son of Alexander Hamilton, was engaged in mining a claim. Hamilton’s Diggings is now the community of Wiota and very near the site of the Battle of the Pecatonica.
279 Estey Street
Shullsburg, Wisconsin
https://badgermineandmuseum.com
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The National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium
Along the shores of the Mississippi River, the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium successfully tells the story of the people who have called the area home, while incorporating the natural landscape and animals that also thrive in the Mississippi riverway. The center’s many facets—as an aquarium, historical museum and environmental center—serve as a major regional attraction that encourages visitors to linger and enjoy the river, all while learning without effort.
350 East Third Street
Port of Dubuque, IA, 52001 (800) 226-3369
https://www.rivermuseum.org
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Black Hawk Memorial Park
Managed by Lafayette County, the battle site of the Pecatonica River, or Horse Shoe Bend, is a community park and campground. Visitors can walk or drive through the terrain of the battle. A local community group hosts the Bloody Lake Rendezvous almost annually.
2995 County Trunk Y
Woodford, WI, 53599 (608) 465-3390
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Apple River Fort State Historic Site
The town of Elizabeth is named in honor of three women, all named Elizabeth, who valiantly rallied the community during the Apple River Fort attack. The reconstructed fort provides educational and historic programs. A museum and visitors’ center welcomes guests a block before the roadway to the fort.
311 East Myrtle Elizabeth, IL, 61028
https://www.appleriverfort.org
Chicago Area Sites
Available to download on your Kindle: A Guide to the Black Hawk War
Fort Dearborn
Represented as one of the four red stars on the city of Chicago’s flag, Fort Dearborn played a role in the Black Hawk War as the landing spot for Winfield Scott’s forces. No physical trace of Fort Dearborn remains, as the last portions of the original fort were incinerated during the Great Chicago Fire. The building is memorialized in the pavement on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Upper Wacker Drive. Pedestrians can walk along the outline of the former fort that has been marked across the road and sidewalks.
Michigan Avenue and Upper Wacker Drive Chicago, Illinois
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American Indian Center, Inc.
Since 1953, the AIC has been a home for First Nation peoples in the Chicagoland area. With a thriving artistic and cultural center, the AIC has a robust calendar of exhibits, events and activities that welcome the community. Its mission is to “be the primary cultural and community resource for over 65,000 NAs in the greater Chicago metropolitan area. Chicago is home to the third largest urban NA population with over 140 tribal nations represented.”
3401 West Ainslie Street Chicago, Illinois
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Newberry Library
The preeminent private nonprofit library of the Midwest, the Newberry contains innumerous resources and primary materials from the onset of European and American migration to the Midwest. Its map collection, early American collection and the D’Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies collection are world renowned. The Newberry continues to provide outreach, seminars and digitization of its collections so that the community and researchers have access to its resources through online digital collections. The Newberry Library often hosts in-depth revolving exhibits and often highlights the Native American traditions represented in its collections.
60 West Walton Street Chicago, IL, 60610
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Chicago History Museum
Dedicated to the broad expanse of Chicago’s exponential growth and importance in the Midwest, the Chicago History Museum includes resources and exhibits of the original Native American peoples in the region.
1601 North Clark Street Chicago, IL, 60614-6038
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Tribune Tower
The Tribune Tower is bedazzled with representative stones from 150 famous architecturally significant buildings across the world—although they do not serve as any true structural support of the skyscraper. Pedestrians can walk around the building and view fragments from the Parthenon, the Pyramid of Giza, the Alamo and the Old Trading Fort at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Look on the East Illinois side of the Tribune Tower for the rectangular stone from the old fort. For centuries, Prairie du Chien was a central trading and gathering location for Native American communities. Situated at the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers, Prairie du Chien would never obtain prominence as a major city. It would not be until after the Black Hawk War that Chicago would become the epicenter of Midwest commerce and culture.
435 North Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois
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Mitchell Museum of the American Indian
Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum
North of Chicago, the Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum of the American Indian contextualizes items in its more than ten-thousand-piece collection. Its mission is to promote and share a deeper understanding of Native American peoples through the collection, preservation and interpretation of its traditional and contemporary art and material culture.
3001 Central Street
Evanston, IL, 60201 (847) 475-1030