The leading spirit in this protest was Black Hawk, who though
neither born a chief nor elected to that dignity, had long been
influential in the village and among his people at large. During
the War of 1812 he became an implacable enemy of the Americans,
and, after fighting with the British at the battles of Frenchtown
and the Thames, he returned to Illinois and carried on a border
warfare which ended only with the signing of a special treaty of
peace in 1816. For years thereafter he was accustomed to lead his
"British band" periodically across northern Illinois and southern
Michigan to the British Indian agency to receive presents of
arms, ammunition, provisions, and trinkets; and he was a
principal intermediary in the British intrigues which gave Cass,
as superintendent of Indian affairs in the Northwest, many uneasy
days. He was ever a restless spirit and a promoter of trouble,
although one must admit that he had some justice on his side and
that he was probably honest and sincere. Tall, spare, with
pinched features, exceptionally high cheekbones, and a prominent
Roman nose, he was a figure to command attention--the more so by
reason of the fact that he had practically no eyebrows and no
hair except a scalp-lock, in which on state occasions he fastened
a flaming bunch of dyed eagle feathers.
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