Black Hawk, a famous Sauk warrior, was born in 1767 at the Sauk town of Saukenuk on the Rock River, about one mile west of this spot. He was not a chief but a warrior and leader of a political faction within the Sauk nation. When he was thirteen years old, American forces destroyed Saukenuk during the American Revolutionary War. Throughout his adult life, he militarily opposed American expansion into Sauk territory. During the War of 1812, Black Hawk and other Sauk warriors fought on the side of the British against the Americans. Known as the British Band, these warriors twice defeated American forces in this area, at the Battle of Campbell's Island in July 1814 and the Battle of Credit Island in September 1814. Although the British were ultimately defeated, Black Hawk maintained his political allegiance to them for nearly the rest of his life. In 1829, the American government demanded that the Sauk abandon Saukenuk and move to the west side of the Mississippi River. Black Hawk led the large group of Sauk who refused to move, and in 1831 American troops drove them out of Saukenuk. Black Hawk and his followers returned to Illinois in April 1832, resulting in the conflict known as the Black Hawk War. He died at age 71 on October 3, 1838, of a respiratory illness.