Black Hawk Tree

Local legend held that Sauk leader Black Hawk used it to elude his pursuers, though there are differing details and versions of the story.

Local lore in Prairie du Chien held that the Sauk leader Black Hawk had once hidden in a cottonwood tree that was located in the city.

Another version of the story held that one day, after his capture following the Black Hawk War, he was being escorted by Lieutenant Jefferson Davis and managed to escape.

[2] A 1906 article in the Prairie du Chien Union debunked the popular tale, outlining the ownership of the property, the writer's interviews with the subjects, and their assertion that the tree was not planted until at least the 1840s.

[4] A piece of wood, purportedly from the Black Hawk Tree, hangs in the museum at Fort Crawford in Prairie du Chien.