The Black Hawk War, or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning, or, We Apologize for the Inconvenience but You're Going to Have to Leave Now, or, 'I Have Fought the Big Knives and Will Continue to Fight Th

It's definitely a reference to the Black Hawk War that began in the vague North Central Illinois Valley area. There's a park dedicated to Black Hawk, and my fourth grade class took a field trip there and to its museum there. [When the state's parks were closing, it was a big controversy because the Black Hawk State Park was on the list to close- it has a very large statue pretty famous for the area there, looking over the Rock River.]

Also, I need to dispute something:

"Blackhawks" weren't a tribe, which is why the hockey team has a deceptive mascot. Black Hawk- two words, as noted in the title as well- was the native American leader who led a group of Sauk and Fox (and apparently Kickapoo, according to Wikipedia) native Americans in a battle against the people who inhabitated what used to be their land- taken over in 1804, I believe. But it is true, they weren't exactly pacifists. Though they had been moved to Iowa, they returned to the area for this battle.

The battle was in 1832, and yes, Lincoln was part of the militia that was sent to fight the Sauk and Fox peoples. He stole a chicken once during the war- I bet you might not have known that!