A few months after returning to his Iowa home, Black Hawk, now
seventy-one years of age, was gathered to his fathers. He was
buried about half a mile from his cabin, in a sitting posture,
his left hand grasping a cane presented to him by Henry Clay, and
at his side a supply of food and tobacco sufficient to last him
to the spirit land, supposed to be three days' travel. "Rock
River," he said in a speech at a Fourth of July celebration
shortly before his death, "was a beautiful country. I liked my
town, my cornfields, and the home of my people. I fought for it.
It is now yours. Keep it, as we did. It will produce you good
crops."
The Black Hawk War opened a new chapter in the history of the
Northwest. The soldiers carried to their homes remarkable stories
of the richness and attractiveness of the northern country, and
the eastern newspapers printed not only detailed accounts of the
several expeditions but highly colored descriptions of the charms
of the region. Books and pamphlets by the score helped to attract
the attention of the country.
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