ntime Black Hawk was planning to recover Saukenuk by force. He
visited Canada, but received little encouragement there, except sympathy
and the assurance that his cause was just.

Black Hawk's worst adviser was Neapope, his second in command, and a
terrible liar. He also visited Canada and claimed that the British whom
he had seen stood ready to help Black Hawk with men, arms and
ammunition, and that a steamboat would bring them to Milwaukee in the
spring. This was good news to the credulous old chief; and quite as
acceptable as this was Neapope's story that the Winnebagoes and
Pottawatomi would join in the campaign to secure his rights. Added to
these encouragements were the entreaties of the homesick hungry women,
who longed for their houses and cornfields at Saukenuk.

Keokuk did his utmost to dissuade Black Hawk but in vain, and then he
gave warning to the whites of Black Hawk's purpose. He feared that the
whole nation might be drawn into the war if it was once started. Black
Hawk's first move with his band in the spring of 1832 was to visit
Keokuk's village, set up his war post and call for recruits. He wore a
British uniform and displayed a British flag. This foolishness and
gratification of vanity cost him dearly in the end. He made an
impassioned speech and wrought the Indians up to such enthusiasm that
they demanded that Keokuk join with Black Hawk. It was a critical moment
for the young chief--even his life was in danger; but he was a more
skillful master of oratory than even the eloquent Black Hawk, and,
seeming at first to fall in with his plan, he gradually showed up its
danger and its impracticable character, until at last he saved all his
own party and even won a considerable number away from Black Hawk.

On the 26th of April the Black Hawk band crossed the Mississippi several
miles below Rock River. They numbered twelve hundred in all, less than
four hundred being warriors, and these only partly armed. Their
destination was Prophetstown, as Black Hawk's plan was to raise a crop
there and go on the war path in the fall. The braves struck across the
country, while the women, weak with famine, slowly paddled the canoes up
against the swift current of the river. They reached Prophetstown late
in April, the heavy rains which had swollen the rivers greatly impeding
their progress. A marvelous feature of this journey across the territory
which the whites claimed had been ceded to them, is the fact that not
th