-New Upcoming Investigation-

Hello everyone! Well, as Halloween approaches, we are undertaking a new investigation of an historic site that was also the scene of a great tragedy. During the Black Hawk War which took place from May to August of 1832, the area that is now known as Victory, Wisconsin close to DeSoto, Wisconsin was the scene for the final chapter of the brief war between Sauk Indians and the U.S. Army and State volunteers from Illinois. This was before Wisconsin became a state in 1848 hence the presence of the Illinois Irregulars and Volunteers.

The numbers of casualties vary depending on the accounts you use but somewhere in the area of between 600 to 1,000 of the Sauk English Band under the leadership of Black Hawk were killed in the fighting of the Battle of Bad Axe to the banks of the Mississippi where they tried to make a last stand. In the end, Black Hawk escaped and went up river to the headwaters at La Crosse, Wisconsin where he met with tribal leaders of the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) who advised him to surrender. A few days later, Black Hawk and his council went back down the river to the military post at Prarie du Chien and surrendered there. 

In the years since the battle, history has taken to calling it a "massacre" more than a battle. Although there was intense fighting on both sides, the casualties for the Sauk band were catastrophic and the end of the battle allowed the settling of Northern Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa and ceased any further hostilities from the Native Americans in this region. A gun boat was waiting for the Sauk as they came to the river bank and when it was determined that they were Sauk with Black Hawk, they were slaughtered as they tried to make rafts and cross the Mississippi to Minnesota. It is generally noted that at least 300 men, women and children perished at the river as they tried to make their escape, killed or drowned in the waters of the Mississippi.

A small band of warriors made it to what is now known as Battle Island but were quickly dispatched once their location was found by the gun boat. It has been said that despite numerous attempts by the Sauk to surrender, they were killed anyway either from ignorance of their language and not having an interpreter who spoke Sauk or as retribution for settlers killed by the band and the men lost on the campaign in the at times horrible battle and skirmishes. 

All this in mind, we will be visiting several sites that were important to the battle including what was once the Bad Axe Creek which is now a road named after the battle, a valley where intense combat took place before the action moved to a nearby small bluff to the current Black Hawk State Park where the Sauk attempted to make their escape but were cut off and killed as they tried to escape across the Mississippi. We will also be going to Battle Island to see what if any paranormal activity might still exist there and what we can find. 

Look for the upcoming posts about our investigation and experiences at these historically significant sites.