As Clark was too young to accept the role, he contracted with a Detroit merchant, Oliver Newbury, to provide the wares and he worked as the clerk of the goods at Fort Winnebago.

The war involved a rebellion by a group of aggrieved Sauk, Fox, and Kickapoo people, led by a warrior named Black Hawk.

[3]: 312–313  Clark, then 16 years old, was selected to make the run due to his familiarity with the land and his good relationships with the Winnebago communities, who gave him shelter as he made the 60 mile trek on foot.

With the fort secure, the army sought to pursue Black Hawk's band, which had begun retreating toward the Mississippi River.

[4] In 1836, Governor Henry Dodge attempted to convince the Winnebago to sell their remaining lands east of the Mississippi River.

[5] There he established an isolated homestead on the prairie near Green Lake, which became known as a haven of hospitality for travelers through the sparsely populated region.

During this first term in the Assembly, he was perhaps best known for an anecdote that he climbed the dome of the State Capitol on a sabbath and sang a number of black minstrel songs as people walked to church.

[1] At the 1851 Democratic State Convention, he came close to winning the party's nomination for Lieutenant Governor, but ultimately lost out to Timothy Burns.

He became an increasingly infamous figure in the politics of the state in the bellicose arguments in the run-up to the American Civil War.

In 1856 he campaigned to be sent as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, pledging to cast his vote for Preston Brooks for President—Brooks had, earlier that year, physically attacked abolitionist senator Charles Sumner on the floor of the U.S.

Clark ran as the Democratic candidate for the 33rd State Senate district, and won election to the 15th Wisconsin Legislature.

He was known to be a friend of notable Democrats William A. Barstow and Charles H. Larrabee as well as Republicans Alexander Randall and Matthew H. Carpenter.

[3] Major Clark was dismissed from service in 1824, and was considered a debtor to the government due to poor bookkeeping as paymaster in Utica.

His younger sister, Frances, married Joseph B. Plummer, a Union Army officer who died of wounds during the American Civil War after rising to the rank of brigadier general.

His younger brother, Temple Clark, was also a Union Army officer with the 5th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment and rose to the rank of colonel as an adjutant on the staff of General William Rosecrans.