St. Vrain Massacre
| St. Vrain massacre | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Black Hawk War | |||||||
 The graves of Felix St. Vrain, at right; alongside victim, William Hale, at left, and his companions, John Fowler and Aaron Hawley, are buried in Kellogg's Grove Cemetery, Kellogg's Grove, Stephenson County, Illinois |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States
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Ho-Chunk or Sauk/Fox | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Henry Atkinson Felix St. Vrain (Indian agent) |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 7 | approximately 30 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 4 | 0 | ||||||
The St. Vrain massacre was an incident in the Black Hawk War. It occurred near present-day Pearl City, Illinois, in Kellogg's Grove, on May 24, 1832. The massacre was most likely committed by Ho-Chunk warriors who were unaffiliated with Black Hawk's band of warriors. It is also unlikely that the group of Ho-Chunk had the sanction of their nation. Killed in the massacre were United States Indian Agent Felix St. Vrain and three of his companions. Some accounts reported that St. Vrain's body was mutilated.
St. Vrain and his party were attacked while en route from Dixon's Ferry, Illinois (now Dixon) to Galena, Illinois. St. Vrain had been ordered by General Henry Atkinson to deliver dispatches to Fort Armstrong. Colonel Henry Dodge's men interred the remains of St. Vrain and his companions after the massacre.
United States Indian Agent Felix St. Vrain was traveling with several companions which included, John Fowler, William Hale, and Aaron Hawley. Those men, along with St. Vrain, were all reportedly killed in the attack; also traveling with St. Vrain was Thomas Kenney, Aquilla Floyd, and Alexander Higginbotham.
The Native Americans that attacked the group were not part of Black Hawk's band of warriors but they were en route to join that group when the massacre occurred. Older histories described the group as a band of Sac warriors while modern sources indicate that the band were associated with the Ho-Chunk nation. Black Hawk asserted that the group was Ho-Chunk and unaffiliated with his band in his autobiography.
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