•September 12, 2018•

By George Eaton

In summer 1814, skirmishes between the U.S. and British-backed warriors under the leadership of Black Hawk flared up and down river from Rock Island.
Since 1803 the U.S. had owned both banks of the Mississippi River. Lt. Zebulon Pike had reached the Rock Island in 1805 and immediately recognized its strategic and tactical importance. The Rock Island Rapids raced for 12 miles upriver. From Rock Island, the Army could control the entire Upper Mississippi River Valley by controlling the rapids.
Locally, the Sauk and Meskwaki, led by Black Hawk, opposed a disputed 1804 treaty that transferred over 50 million acres of land to the U.S. An Army post on the island could also keep an eye on Black Hawk and his followers.
The battles of 1814 confirmed to the Army that it needed a presence on Rock Island. In May 1816, Fort Armstrong was built on the downriver end of the island. The small Army contingent there was tasked to control the Upper Mississippi River Valley by monitoring the Rock Island Rapids; maintaining observation of assumed anti-American Sauk Indians in the area; maintaining peaceful relations between the local Native American tribes; and, later, providing security as settlers moved into the area.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.