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The Indian Creek Massacre occurred on May 21, 1832 with the attack by a party of Native Americans on a group of United States settlers in LaSalle County, Illinois following a dispute about a settler-constructed dam that prevented fish from reaching a nearby Potawatomi village. The incident coincided with the Black Hawk War, but it was not a direct action of the Sauk leader Black Hawk and conflict with the United States. The removal of the dam was asked, was rejected by the settlers and between 40 and 80 Potawatomis and three Sauks attacked and killed fifteen settlers, including women and children.〔"(Paging Back Tale of Indian Creek Massacre... )"〕〔"(Indian Creek Marker Relocating to Historic Site )"〕 Two young women kidnapped by the Indians were ransomed and released unharmed about two weeks later. The tension of the massacre and the war prompted settlers to seek protection at frontier forts under the control of the militia. Three men were arrested for the killings, but the charges were dropped when their alleged role in the massacre could not be verified by the witnesses. Today, the site of the massacre is marked by memorials in Shabbona County Park in LaSalle County, about north of Ottawa, Illinois. ==Background== The Indian Creek massacre resulted from a dispute between U.S. settlers and a Potawatomi Native American village along the Indian Creek in LaSalle County, Illinois. In the spring of 1832, a blacksmith named William Davis dammed the creek to power for his sawmill.〔Edmunds, 237; Trask, 200.〕 Meau-eus, the principal chief of the small Potawatomi village, protested to Davis that the dam prevented fish from reaching the village. Davis ignored the protests and assaulted a Potawatomi male who tried to dismantle the dam. The villagers wanted to retaliate, but Potawatomi chiefs Shabbona and Waubonsie advised a compromise that the villagers fish below the dam.〔Edmunds, 237; Hall, 135–36; Scanlan, 29–30.〕 Meanwhile, in February 1832, a Sauk leader named Black Hawk wanted to resettle on land ceded to the United States by the disputed Treaty of St. Louis (1804). Black Hawk thought that the Potawatomi in Illinois would support the resettling since they had grievances about the United States expansion into Native American territory.〔Hall, 116.〕 Potawatomi leaders feared that the United States had become too powerful to be opposed by their force. Potawatomi chiefs urged their people to stay neutral in the coming conflict, but, as in other tribes, chiefs did not have the authority or power to compel compliance.〔Hall, 108, 125.〕 Potawatomi leaders worried that the tribe as a whole would be punished if any Potawatomi supported Black Hawk. At a council outside Chicago on May 1, 1832, Potawatomi leaders including Billy Caldwell "passed a resolution declaring any Potawatomi who supported Black Hawk a traitor to his tribe".〔Hall, 132.〕 In mid May, Potawatomi leaders told Black Hawk that he did not have their support.〔Jung, 86–87.〕 Black Hawk led a group of Sauks, Meskwakis, and Kickapoos known as the "British Band", to cross the Mississippi River from Iowa into the U.S. state of Illinois. Black Hawk's motives were ambiguous, but it is said that he was apparently hoping to avoid bloodshed.〔Jung, 74–75; Trask, 145–50; Hall, 129–30.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Indian Creek massacre」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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