05/14/2026
Today is the 194th anniversary of the Battle of Stillman's Run. Also known as the Battle of Sycamore Creek or Old Man's Creek, this was the first engagement of the Black Hawk War.
Governor John Reynolds tasked Major Isaiah Stillman and his 275-man militia to find Black Hawk and his people and "coerce" them to return to Iowa. Black Hawk, who had not found as much support as he had hoped from other tribes, sent a three emissaries with a white flag to speak with Stillman. While talks began, militia sentries noticed several Sauk scouts cautiously watching from a distance. They panicked and fired. One Sauk emissary was killed, and a few militiamen followed and killed a few more Sauk scouts.
The surviving scouts made it back to Black Hawk's camp. Black Hawk and his warriors formed a skirmish line and waited. When the militia arrived, Black Hawk had the advantage. Despite being severely outnumbered, Black Hawk quickly put the 275 militiamen into a retreat, winning the battle.
News of the battle spread quickly, throwing the region into a frenzied panic. Militia groups mustered across the state (and some neighboring ones, too), and small fortifications popped up nearly overnight (including our very own Apple River Fort).
The Black Hawk War had begun.
Image by Benjamin Drake, from his 1854 book "Great Indian Chief of the West, Or, Life and Adventures of Black Hawk."
