Background As a consequence of an 1804 treaty between the
Governor of
Indiana Territory and a group of
Sauk and
Meskwaki leaders regarding land settlement, the tribes vacated their lands in
Illinois and moved west of the
Mississippi in 1828. However, Sauk leader
Black Hawk and others disputed the treaty, claiming that the full tribal councils had not been consulted, nor did those representing the tribes have authorization to cede lands. Finding no allies, he attempted to return to
Iowa, but the undisciplined Illinois militia's actions led to the
Battle of Stillman's Run. A number of other engagements followed, and the militias of
Michigan Territory and Illinois were mobilized to hunt down Black Hawk's Band. The conflict became known as the
Black Hawk War.
Black Hawk War As an officer in the
Illinois militia James W. Stephenson served in a combat command capacity during the war. He first raised a company of 134 men in the early stages of the war as a
captain, later, he was elected major and his company was taken over by Captain Enoch Duncan. Stephenson's company was mustered into service in May and was released on September 14, 1832. Though Waddams Grove did little to put an end to Sauk raids in the region, it did help bolster public confidence in the militia. Less than two weeks later, Stephenson was involved in the aftermath of the
raid at Sinsinawa Mound, in present-day
Grant County, Wisconsin. When news of the attack at
Sinsinawa Mound reached Galena, Captain Stephenson set out with 30 soldiers to pursue the raiders. Once at Sinsinawa, they buried the "most shockingly mutilated" dead at the mound; both of the men killed, John Thompson and John Boxley, had been
scalped, and Thompson's heart was missing. Stephenson followed the Sauk trail to the
Mississippi River and stopped, the raiders having apparently crossed the river. Stephenson's party returned to Galena without finding the group responsible for the attack. In the week preceding another of the war's major turning points, the June 16
Battle of Horseshoe Bend, Stephenson helped Colonel
Henry Dodge and his men bury the victims of the
St. Vrain massacre. ==Political career==