Originally northeastern people, the Fox and Sauk moved westward to escape the Iroquois and Huron tribes who wanted their territory. In the early 1700s, the Fox and Sauk settled in the Wisconsin and Detroit areas. This move brought them into conflict with the Ottawa, a tribe living in the Detroit area who were friendly with the French. In 1712 the Fox declared war on the Ottawa. The French supported the Ottawa and helped them to defeat the Fox. For the next thirty years, the French, intent on destroying the Fox, waged war upon them.

Full of hatred and fear of the French, the Sauk and the Fox moved south into Illinois in the mid 1740s. The two tribes fought the Illinois tribes, such as the Kaskaskia, the Cahokia, and the Peoria, for supporting the French. A major battle took place in June of 1752 in Michigamea, an Indian village to the north of Kaskaskia:

"It was estimated that 1,000 warriors descended the Mississippi in 180 canoes for a stroke against the Michigamea, who were living just north of Fort de Chartres, because they had given shelter to the Cahokia. On June 6, l752, the northern tribes (Sauk) surrounded the Michigamea and in a surprise attack killed seventy or eighty persons and destroyed the village."

Excerpt from: Wayne C. Temple, Indian Villages of the Illinois Country, Illinois State Museum Scientific Papers vol. 2, part 2 (1966):567.

As the French traveled south, down the Mississippi River towards New Orleans, they had other Indian tribes to fear, such as the Chickasaw. The Chickasaw, a southern tribe, lived and hunted in the lower delta of the Mississippi River. Because the Chickasaw were friendly towards the British, the French waged war upon the tribe in the 1730s, making enemies of them.

To learn more about the Chickasaw Nation today, you can visit their homepage at:
https://www.chickasaw.net

© Illinois State Museum 31-Dec-96