Life, Death, and Archaeology at Fort Blue Mounds

Description

In 1832, the Sauk leader Black Hawk led members of the Sauk, Meskwaki, and Kickapoo Native Nations across the Mississippi River from Iowa Indian Territory in an effort to reclaim Native lands taken by the US government in the 1804 Treaty of St. Louis. They reached an area of what is now southern Wisconsin where, with Ho-Chunk and Potawatomi allies, they engaged in battle with US troops and their Native allies. Black Hawk and his forces were defeated, changing the course of American expansion and the removal of Native peoples from the Midwest. Focusing on the strategically located Fort Blue Mounds, archaeologist and author Robert A. Birmingham summarizes the 1832 conflict and details the history of the fort, which played a major role not only in US military operations but also in the lives of the area's white residents who sought refuge there. Birmingham further details the late twentieth century efforts to locate the fort and the artifacts that he and fellow archaeologists unearthed, providing fascinating—and sometimes surprising—insights into the life, material culture, and foodways of the region.