Note 130 — TRAVELS IN THE INTERIOR OF NORTH AMERICA, IN THE YEARS 1832, 1833, AND 1834 (continued 4)

Keokuk (Watchful Fox) was not a chieftain by birth, but by his address and eloquence raised himself to a prominent place in the allied Sauk and Fox tribes. Born at Saukenuk about 1780, he was younger than Black Hawk, and early took opposition to his policy. Keokuk was for peace and the American alliance, and about 1826 removed his division of the tribe across the Mississippi to a village southwest of the present Muscatine, Iowa. During the Black Hawk War he kept a large portion of the tribe neutral, and at its close was recognized by the federal government as head-chief of the tribe. In 1836 a large tract of Iowa land was ceded by the Indians to the federal government, whereupon the tribesmen removed to Kansas. Keokuk visited Washington several times, notably in 1837, when he made addresses from the platform of Catlin's museum. Catlin painted his portrait in the full garb of an Indian councillor, and daguerreotypes of him also exist. His features were of a Caucasian type, for his father was part French. Keokuk died in Kansas in 1848; in 1883 his remains were removed to Keokuk, Iowa. It is not true that in person Keokuk surrendered Black Hawk to the American authorities. Consult on the capture of the latter, Wisconsin Historical Collections, v, p. 293; viii, p. 316.—Ed.