In 1822 Galena was visited by a
Mississippi River steamboat, and a few years later regular
steamboat traffic was established. And it was by these roadways
and waterways that homeseekers soon began to arrive.
The invasion of the white man, accompanied though it was by
treaties, was bitterly resented by the Indian tribes who occupied
the Northwest above the Illinois River. These Sioux, Sauk and
Foxes, and Winnebagoes, with remnants of other tribes, carried on
an intermittent warfare for years, despite the efforts of the
Federal Government to define tribal boundaries; and between red
men and white men coveting the same lands causes of irritation
were never wanting. In 1827 trouble which had been steadily
brewing came to the boiling-point. Predatory expeditions in the
north were reported; the Winnebagoes were excited by rumors that
another war between the United States and Great Britain was
imminent; an incident or even an accident was certain to provoke
hostilities. The incident occurred. When Red Bird, a petty
Winnebago chieftain dwelling in a "town" on the Black River, was
incorrectly informed that two Winnebago braves who had been
imprisoned at Prairie du Chien had been executed, he promptly
instituted vengeance.
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