The Sauk and Fox shortly before the Black Hawk War

Manners and Customs of the Sauk and Fox Nations of Indians


Thomas Forsyth (1771-1833) was an Illinois fur trader who served as Indian agent for the Sauk and Fox Indians from 1818-1830. He was stationed at Rock Island, Ill., just across from their principal town of Saukenuk at the mouth of the Rock River. This report was produced in 1826, after Forsyth had lived and worked among the Indians of the Upper Mississippi Valley for 15 years. It was sent in January of 1827 to the superintendant of Indian Affairs, William Clark. The footnotes in this version were prepared in 1911 by editor Emma H. Blair.

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Related Topics: Territory to Statehood
The Black Hawk War
Creator: Forsyth, Thomas, 1771-1833.
Pub Data: The original manuscript is in the Draper papers at the Wisconsin Historical Society (Draper Mss T). The printed version here is reproduced from Blair, Emma Helen. The Indian Tribes of the Upper Mississippi Valley and Region of the Great Lakes... (Cleveland, Ohio: A.H. Clark Co., 1911-1912), volume 2: pp. 183-245.
Citation: Forsyth, Thomas. "Manners and Customs of the Sauk and Fox Nations of Indians." in Blair, Emma Helen. The Indian Tribes of the Upper Mississippi Valley and Region of the Great Lakes... (Cleveland, Ohio: A.H. Clark Co., 1911-1912), volume 2: pp. 183-245; online facsimile at http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=1606 Online facsimile at:  http://wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=1606; Visited on: 4/26/2024