Black Hawk War Guide
The Black Hawk War was the final conflict east of the Mississippi River between American Indian communities and the United States regular troops and militia. Exploring the museums, wayside markers and parks relating to that struggle is not just a journey of historic significance through beautiful natural scenery. It is also an amazing convergence of legendary personalities, from Abraham Lincoln to Jefferson Davis. Follow the fallout of the war from the Quad Cities on the Illinois/Iowa border, through the "Trembling Lands" along the Kettle Morraine and into the Driftless Area of southern Wisconsin. Pairing local insight with big-picture perspective, Ben Strand charts an overlooked quadrant of America's frontier heritage.
Ben Strand, Kealan Hamilton-Youngbird
Ben Strand hails from the Uplands of southwestern Wisconsin. He received his education while serving as a busboy at the Thym's Supper Club in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, and the Old Mexico Grill in Santa Fe, New Mexico. With degrees from the University of Wisconsin and an MFA from Goddard College in Vermont, he has a long-standing commitment to the Wisconsin Idea and the Green Mountain Ideal. As a lifelong Cubs fan, he smartly swore off the lovable losers when they removed the communal urinals from Wrigley Field, which just happened to be the year before they ruined a perfectly honorable losing streak. He currently makes his home with his family and school-age children in the Driftless region of Wisconsin. After many years of avid prickly ash pruning, he has forged a truce with this native bush and is now focused on removing the twenty-first-century scourge of burdock, wild parsnips and multiflora rose. Invitations and admonitions can be directed to ben@benstrand.com.
