jan 1, 1730 - Sauk & Meskwaki
arrive in SE Iowa
Description:
Sauk and Meskwaki move into Southeast Iowa after 1730:
The Sauk and the Meskwaki were two related Native American groups historically from the northeast, possibly as far as southeastern Canada. Both groups spoke the same language, a Central Algonquian dialect shared also with the Kickapoo. Having been pushed west by European expansion, they settled along the shores of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan at the end of the 17th century, but the Meskwaki were soon attacked by French fur traders and took refuge with the Sauk, marking the beginning of their close relationship with each other. French traders attacked again, prompting the Sauk and Meskwaki communities to move down the Mississippi into northwestern Illinois and eastern Iowa in the 1730’s.
Before the Black Hawk War of 1832 the largest settlement was Saukenuk, which had about 1,000 residents and was located about 60 miles east of here at what is now Rock Island, Illinois. Along with other communities all throughout eastern Iowa, there were two large communities near where Crooked Creek Christian Camp is now, one of them Sauk and the other Meskwaki. The Sauk community was between Walnut Creek and the Skunk River, about 4 miles southwest of the CCCC property, and had 400 to 500 people living there when American settlers eventually arrived. The Meskwaki community was along Crooked Creek about 1½ miles north of where Camp is now, and had a population of about 300 people. Many of the Sauk and Meskwaki communities were connected by long, narrow travel routes that the settlers called “Indian trails.” There were trails through Washington Township and Marion Township running 50 miles or so in several different directions.
Added to timeline:
Crooked Creek: A History of the Land and the People
Crooked Creek Christian Camp
Washington, Iowa
2017
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