Wisconsin Historical Society

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Images

View of the Pecatonica battlefield (1857)

Pecatonica Battleground

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About this record

The small battle at Pecatonica (also known as the Battle of Horseshoe Bend and the Battle of Bloody Lake) marked an early success for Colonal Henry Dodge against Black Hawk's band in the 1832 Black Hawk War. Pursuing a group of Kickapoo Indians, Dodge's militia managed to corner the Indians at a bend in the Pecatonica river, killing all 13 members of the party. The site is now part of Black Hawk Memorial Park, north of Woodford, in Lafayette County. This painting was the last of three battlefield scenes painted by Brookes and Stevenson in 1857.

Citation

Brookes, Samuel; Stevenson, Thomas H. "Pecatonica Battleground." Original oil painting in the Wisconsin Historical Museum.