Indian Creek Massacre

Fannie is a Black Lab Mix, and History and Genealogy Buff Mutt

Like most young pups, Fannie is very excited about stories with lots of action.  She sat on the edge of her seat as she paged through this historical text about the Hall girls who were taken by the Indians!

Indian Creek Massacre and Captivity of Hall Girls, by Charles M. Scalan, Heritage Books, 1915

On May 21. 1832, Native Americans attacked white settlers in LaSalle County, Illinois.  The settlers built a dam that prevented fish from reaching the nearby Indian village. They needed it to power a sawmill along Indian Creek. The settlers refused to remove the dam when they were asked by the Indians. One of the tribesmen tried to dismantle the dam. He was attacked by the settlers. This did not prove to be a good decision, because members of the Sauk and Potawatomi tribes killed about 15 settlers, and kidnapped 2 girls, Sylvia and Rachel Hall, in retaliation. After several weeks, the settlers paid a ransom for the girls and they were released.  The deal was brokered by Chief White Crow.

The week before the attack, Chief Black Hawk, was trying to gain control of the area for his people of the Sauk tribe, and defeated the Illinois militia at the Battle of Stillman's Run on May 14, 1832. The Potawatomi tribe did not want the white settlers to blame them for the defeat of the militia.  They decided to warn the settlers that Black Hawk was not done with his plan.  Some of the settlers took refuge in the fort at Ottawa.  Twenty-three members of the families of Davis, Hall and Pettigrew, along with several other men decided to stay at their settlement where they had built the dam.

Fannie was fascinated by the fact that the two teenage girls were not hurt by the Native Americans while they were captured.  They reported that they had been treated very well. She really enjoyed this exciting and fast-pace story.  Her little heart kept beating while she turned the pages until the end of the story.

If you like exciting and true historical events, you will certainly like this book as much as Fannie does. She gave this book a rating of Two Paws UP and Two Woofs.  It was a bit too graphic, so she downgraded it on the Entertainment Value.

For future reference...Fannie's Rating System is as follows :

Engaging/Educational Factor......No Paws UP, One Paw UP, Two Paws UP

Entertainment Value.....No Woofs, One Woof, Two Woofs, Three Woofs