The Sauk (or Sac) and Fox tribes, who were living in present-day Michigan and Ohio by the early seventeenth century, established political ties with each other in the eighteenth century after a protracted war with the French nearly decimated the Fox tribe. Continued conflict with the French forced the confederation to move south into present-day Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri—the western portions of which belonged to Spain at the time—where they began warring with tribes such as the Kaskaskia and Osage, who were already living in the area. American expansion into these lands after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 led to further conflict, including an Indian raid in which three white settlers were killed. Hoping to avoid full-scale war with the United States, a delegation of Sauk and Fox leaders made an agreement with Indiana territorial governor William Henry Harrison to cede part of their land in exchange for the return of an Indian prisoner. Harrison evidently did not reveal the full extent of the cession, however, which included most of western Illinois (including the land on which Nauvoo was located), southwestern Wisconsin, and parts of eastern Missouri. Indian resentment over the treaty appears to have been a key factor behind the 1832 Black Hawk War, which resulted in the Indians being forced to cede to the United States one and one-quarter of a million acres of land in present-day Iowa. The remainder of their land was sold to the government in 1842. The Indians were permitted to continue living on the western portion of this land until 1845, when they were relocated to lands in present-day Kansas. (Jung, Black Hawk War of 1832, 11–32, 190–209; White, Middle Ground, 469–517; Eby, ‘That Disgraceful Affair,’ 37–63, 263–295.)

Jung, Patrick J. The Black Hawk War of 1832. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2007.

White, Richard. The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650–1815. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991.

Eby, Cecil. ‘That Disgraceful Affair,’ the Black Hawk War. New York: W. W. Norton, 1973.

In addition to purchasing extensive tracts of land from Isaac Galland across the Mississippi in the Half-Breed Tract, which was located in Iowa Territory, JS, Hyrum Smith, and Sidney Rigdon purchased much of the land on which Nauvoo was to be built from Horace Hotchkiss, John Gillett, and Smith Tuttle on 12 August 1839. (Lee Co., IA, Land Records, 1836–1961, vol. 1, pp. 507–509, 29 May 1839, microfilm 959,238; vol. 2, pp. 3–6, 13–16, 26 June 1839, microfilm 959,239, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Cook, “Isaac Galland,” 271–274; Promissory notes, JS et al. to Horace Hotchkiss; JS et al. to John Gillett and Smith Tuttle, 12 Aug. 1839, JS Collection, CHL.)

U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

The Indians told the Saints that the dance was a celebration of their “bye gone battles.” (“A Word from the Redman,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 29 May 1844, [2].)

Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

Around the end of August 1843, JS and his family had moved from the “old house” on the southwest corner of Water and Main streets to the Nauvoo Mansion, located diagonally across the intersection. (JS, Journal, 31 Aug. 1843.)