Spotted Saddle Horses for Sale near Rock Island, IL

About Rock Island, IL

Various Native American tribes occupied this area for thousands of years before settlement. By the early nineteenth century, it was occupied chiefly by the historic Sauk tribe. Their major village of Saukenuk was located on the south side of Rock Island, along the Rock River. After the War of 1812, the United States built Fort Armstrong on the island for defensive reasons in 1816. Saukenuk was the birthplace of the Sauk war chief Black Hawk, for whom the Black Hawk War of 1831–1832 was named.