The Sinsinawa Mound raid occurred on June 29, 1832, near the Sinsinawa mining settlement in Michigan Territory (present-day

Grant County, Wisconsin Grant County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,938. Its county seat is Lancaster. The county is named after the Grant River, in turn named after a fur trader who lived in the area ...

in the United States). This incident, part of the

Black Hawk War The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis (Fox), and Kickapoos, known as the " British Band", cros ...

, resulted in the deaths of two men; a third man survived by seeking cover in a nearby blockhouse. In the aftermath of the raid, Captain James W. Stephenson set out to pursue the attackers—a straggling band of Sauk Native Americans—but lost their trail at the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

. The attack occurred in the same week as other skirmishes and raids, and as a result helped contribute to the growing fear in the region. The raid caused the residents of nearby Platteville to consider fleeing their settlement.

Background

As a consequence of an 1804 treaty between the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Indiana Territory The Indiana Territory, officially the Territory of Indiana, was created by a congressional act that President John Adams signed into law on May 7, 1800, to form an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, ...

and a group of Sauk and

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

leaders regarding land settlement, the tribes vacated their lands in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

and moved west of the

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

in 1828. However, Sauk Chief Black Hawk and others disputed the treaty, claiming that the full tribal councils had not been consulted, nor did those representing the tribes have authorization to cede lands. Angered by the loss of his birthplace, between 1830–31 Black Hawk led a number of incursions across the Mississippi River into Illinois, but was persuaded each time to return west without bloodshed. In April 1832, encouraged by promises of alliance with other tribes and the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

, he again moved his " British Band" of around 1,000 warriors and non-combatants into Illinois.Lewis, James.
Blackhawk War: Phase Three
. Lincoln / Net, ''Northern Illinois University''. Retrieved May 19, 2018. Finding no allies, he attempted to return across the Mississippi (to present-day

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

), but the undisciplined Illinois Militia's actions led to the

Battle of Stillman's Run The Battle of Stillman's Run, also known as the Battle of Sycamore Creek or the Battle of Old Man's Creek, occurred in Illinois on May 14, 1832. The battle was named for the panicked retreat by Major Isaiah Stillman and his detachment of 275 I ...

.May 14: Black Hawk's Victory at the Battle of Stillman's Run
" Historic Diaries: The Black Hawk War, ''Wisconsin State Historical Society''. Retrieved August 6, 2007. A number of other engagements followed, and the militia of Michigan Territory and the state of Illinois were mobilized to hunt down Black Hawk's band. The conflict became known as the

. The period between Stillman's Run and the raid at Sinsinawa Mound was filled with war-related activity. A series of attacks at

Buffalo Grove Buffalo Grove, officially the Village of Buffalo Grove, is a village in Lake and Cook County, Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it lies about northwest of Downtown Chicago. As of the 2020 Census, Buffalo Grove has a population of 43,212. It tota ...

, the Plum River settlement, Fort Blue Mounds and the war's most famous incident, the

Indian Creek massacre The Indian Creek Massacre occurred on May 21, 1832 with the attack by a party of Native Americans on a group of United States settlers in LaSalle County, Illinois following a dispute about a settler-constructed dam that prevented fish from reach ...

, all took place between mid-May and late June 1832.May 21, Indian Creek, Ill.: Abduction of the Hall Sisters
" Historic Diaries: The Black Hawk War, ''Wisconsin State Historical Society''. Retrieved September 21, 2007. The week before the Battle of Apple River Fort (on June 24) was an important turning point for the settlers: between June 16 and 18 two key battles, one at Waddams Grove and the other at

Horseshoe Bend Horseshoe Bend may refer to: Places Australia * Horseshoe Bend, New South Wales, an inner city suburb in the City of Maitland in the Hunter Region * Horseshoe Bend Station, a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the Alice Sprin ...

, played a role in changing public perception about the militia after its defeat at Stillman's Run.James Stephenson Describes the Battle at Yellow Creek
Historic Diaries: The Black Hawk War, ''Wisconsin Historical Society''. Retrieved September 21, 2007.June 16: Henry Dodge Describes The Battle of the Pecatonica
" Historic Diaries: The Black Hawk War, ''Wisconsin State Historical Society''. Retrieved September 21, 2007.June 16: Peter Parkinson Recalls the Battle of the Pecatonica
" Historic Diaries: The Black Hawk War, ''Wisconsin State Historical Society''. Retrieved September 21, 2007. The Battle of Apple River Fort occurred five days before the Sinsinawa Mound raid; the fight was a 45-minute gun battle between defenders garrisoned inside

Apple River Fort Apple River Fort, today known as the Apple River Fort State Historic Site, was one of many frontier forts hastily completed by settlers in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin following the onset of the 1832 Black Hawk War. Located in presen ...

and Sauk and Fox warriors led by Chief Black Hawk himself.Harmet, A. Richard.
Apple River Fort Site
, ( PDF), National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, March 31, 1997, HAARGIS Database, ''Illinois Historic Preservation Agency''. Retrieved September 27, 2007.

Prelude

George Wallace Jones George Wallace Jones (April 12, 1804 – July 22, 1896) was an American frontiersman, entrepreneur, attorney, and judge, was among the first two United States Senators to represent the state of Iowa after it was admitted to the Union in 1846 ...

, who would later become a U.S. Senator from

, arrived in the Sinsinawa Mound area in 1827, and in 1828 established a mining settlement there. The first structure at the settlement was Jones's own log cabin, built during the spring of 1828 in two days. The cabin measured 49

feet The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made ...

(14.9 m) by 17 feet (5.2 m) and each room had one door and one window.Ira A. Williams.
Lost in an Iowa Blizzard
. ''The Palimpsest'', Vol. 2, No. 1, January 1921, pp. 1-15. When the Black Hawk War began four years later he also built a small fort at the site.Tri-State Old Settlers' Association. "Impromptu Speech of George W. Jones," ''Report of the Organization and First Reunion of the Tri-State Old Settlers'',
Google Books
, Tri-State Printing Co.: 1884, pp. 43–44. Retrieved September 25, 2007. The remains of the fort, one of many constructed in the region to protect local residents, are said to still stand at the entrance to the Sinsinawa Dominican complex.Koch, Kevin.
Manitoumie. Sinsinawa.
''Big Muddy: A Journal of the Mississippi River Valley'', Issue 6.1. Retrieved May 19, 2018. One of the men who assisted Jones in building the fort's blockhouse was Enoch Robinson, a soldier who later helped bury the victims of the Sinsinawa Mound raid.Enoch Robinson
" ''History of Grant County, Wisconsin'', 1881, p. 919, transcribe at rootsweb.com. Retrieved September 27, 2007. At the time of the attack Jones was with Henry Dodge's militia volunteers, on the way to meet overall commander General Henry Atkinson at

Lake Koshkonong Lake Koshkonong is a naturally occurring lake that acts as a reservoir in southern Wisconsin. Its size was augmented by the creation of the Indianford Dam in 1932, making it one of the larger lakes in the state. The lake lies along the Rock Rive ...

, then a marsh region.

Attack

On June 29, 1832, what was probably a small band of Sauk attacked three men working in a cornfield at the Jones mining settlement near Sinsinawa Mound.''Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin'',
Google Books
, State Historical Society of Wisconsin: 1908, p. 280. Retrieved August 13, 2007. The Sauk took up a position directly between the settlers and their weapons.Braun, Robert A.

" September 2001, ''Old Lead Historical Society'', p. 2. Retrieved August 13, 2007. Two of the men—James Boxley and John Thompson—were killed by the raiding party; their badly mutilated bodies were later recovered. Trask, Kerry A. ''Black Hawk: The Battle for the Heart of America'',
Google Books
, Henry Holt and Company, New York: 2006, p. 223, (). Retrieved August 13, 2007. The third, an unidentified man, made a run for Jones blockhouse and survived the attack. The raiders were most likely a group of stragglers from the main body of the British Band, which was moving toward the Rock River with Chief Black Hawk.Strong, Moses McCure. ''History of the Territory of Wisconsin, from 1836 to 1848'',
Google Books
, Democrat Printing Co.: 1885, p. 144. Retrieved September 27, 2007.

Aftermath

When news of the raid reached

Galena, Illinois Galena is the largest city in and the county seat of Jo Daviess County, Illinois, with a population of 3,308 at the 2020 census. A section of the city is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Galena Historic District. The c ...

, Captain James W. Stephenson set out with thirty soldiers to pursue the raiding party. Arriving at Sinsinawa Mound, they buried the two "most shockingly mutilated" settlers there; both Thompson and Boxley had been scalped and Thompson's heart had been removed. Stephenson then followed the Sauk trail to the Mississippi River where it went cold, the raiders having apparently crossed the river. Stephenson's party returned to Galena empty handed.

Henry Dodge Moses Henry Dodge (October 12, 1782 – June 19, 1867) was a Democratic member to the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, Territorial Governor of Wisconsin and a veteran of the Black Hawk War. His son, Augustus C. Dodge, served a ...

ordered the various elements of the militia to rendezvous at

Fort Hamilton Fort Hamilton is a United States Army installation in the southwestern corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, surrounded by the communities of Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights. It is one of several posts that are part of the region which i ...

to eventually join General Henry Atkinson near present-day

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

. When word of the attack at Sinsinawa Mound reached George W. Jones he left the volunteers under the command of Dodge and returned to the settlement at the mound. The attack at Sinsinawa Mound, compounded by other incidents around the region, helped contribute to the fear gripping the settlers. The people of Platteville, in present-day

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, contemplated fleeing to Galena, about 25 miles (40 km) south, as a direct result of the Sinsinawa Mound raid.Wilgus, James A.
History of Old Platteville
. ''Wisconsin Magazine of History'', vol. 28, no. 1, (September 1944), p. 76. Retrieved May 19, 2018. Colonel Dodge dispatched one of his men, Frederick Hollman, to Platteville to reassure its nervous residents. However, by the time Hollman arrived the settlers had already been informed that the local Native American Ho-Chunk tribesmen were friendly. This and the subsequent delivery of promised supplies from Galena further placated Platteville's residents, and the threatened exodus was called off.

Notes

{{good article Sinsinawa Mound 1832 in the United States Grant County, Wisconsin June 1832 events