Warrior was a privately owned and constructed steamboat

Steamboat

A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...

 that was pressed into service by the U.S. government during the Black Hawk War

Black Hawk War

The Black Hawk War was a brief conflict fought in 1832 between the United States and Native Americans headed by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted soon after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis, and Kickapoos known as the "British Band" crossed the Mississippi River into the U.S....

 to assist with military operations. Warrior was constructed and launched in 1832 at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by Joseph Throckmorton

Joseph Throckmorton

Joseph Throckmorton was an American steamboat builder and captain during the 19th century. He was born in Monmouth County, New Jersey and first worked in a mercantile business. His first steamboat was Red Rover, purchased on the Ohio River around 1830. In 1832 he built and skippered the steamboat...

 who also served as the vessel's captain. Once constructed the vessel traveled to St. Louis and into the war zone. Warrior played a key role in the decisive Battle of Bad Axe

Battle of Bad Axe

The Battle of Bad Axe, also known as the Bad Axe Massacre, occurred 1–2 August 1832, between Sauk and Fox Indians and United States Army regulars and militia. This final battle of the Black Hawk War took place near present-day Victory, Wisconsin in the United States...

. Following the war the steamboat continued its service under Throckmorton along the Upper Mississippi River

Upper Mississippi River

The Upper Mississippi River is the portion of the Mississippi River upstream of Cairo, Illinois, United States. From the headwaters at Lake Itasca, Minnesota, the river flows approximately 2000 kilometers to Cairo, where it is joined by the Ohio River to form the Lower Mississippi...

.

Launching

The steamboat

Steamboat

A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...

 Warrior was both privately built and owned. The 111 foot (33.8 m) boat was built by Joseph Throckmorton

Joseph Throckmorton

Joseph Throckmorton was an American steamboat builder and captain during the 19th century. He was born in Monmouth County, New Jersey and first worked in a mercantile business. His first steamboat was Red Rover, purchased on the Ohio River around 1830. In 1832 he built and skippered the steamboat...

, who also owned the vessel in a partnership with Galena, Illinois

Galena, Illinois

Galena is the county seat of, and largest city in, Jo Daviess County, Illinois in the United States, with a population of 3,429 in 2010. The city is a popular tourist destination known for its history, historical architecture, and ski and golf resorts. Galena was the residence of Ulysses S...

 resident William Hempstead. It was launched in Pittsburgh during the summer of 1832 with Captain Throckmorton at the helm. The side wheeled

Paddle steamer

A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat, powered by a steam engine, using paddle wheels to propel it through the water. In antiquity, Paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans...

 vessel had no cabin or accommodations for passengers but towed behind it a barge

Barge

A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats...

 meant for passengers. Throckmorton brought the new boat and its barge to St. Louis and then set out for the war zone by mid-summer 1832.

Background

As a consequence of an 1804 treaty between the governor of Indiana Territory

Indiana Territory

The Territory of Indiana was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1800, until November 7, 1816, when the southern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Indiana....

 and a group of Sauk and Fox leaders regarding land settlement, the tribes vacated their lands in Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 and moved west of the Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

 in 1828. However, Sauk Chief Black Hawk

Black Hawk (chief)

Black Hawk was a leader and warrior of the Sauk American Indian tribe in what is now the United States. Although he had inherited an important historic medicine bundle, he was not one of the Sauk's hereditary civil chiefs...

 and others disputed the treaty, claiming that the full tribal councils had not been consulted, nor did those representing the tribes have authorization to cede lands. Angered by the loss of his birthplace, between 1830–31 Black Hawk led a number of incursions across the Mississippi River into Illinois, but was persuaded each time to return west without bloodshed. In April 1832, encouraged by promises of alliance with other tribes and the British, he again moved his so-called "British Band

British Band

The British Band was a group of Native Americans which fought against Illinois and Michigan Territory militia units during the 1832 Black Hawk War. The band was composed of about 1,500 men, women, and children from the Sauk, Meskwaki, Fox, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk, and Ottawa nations;...

" of around 1,000 warriors and non-combatants into Illinois. Finding no allies, he attempted to return across the Mississippi (to present-day Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

), but the undisciplined Illinois Militia's actions led to the Battle of Stillman's Run

Battle of Stillman's Run

The Battle of Stillman's Run, also known as the Battle of Sycamore Creek or the Battle of Old Man's Creek, occurred on May 14, 1832. The battle was named for Major Isaiah Stillman and his detachment of 275 Illinois militia which fled in a panic from a large number of Sauk warriors. According to...

. A number of other engagements followed, and the militia of Michigan Territory and the state of Illinois were mobilized to hunt down Black Hawk's band. The conflict became known as the Black Hawk War

Black Hawk War

The Black Hawk War was a brief conflict fought in 1832 between the United States and Native Americans headed by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted soon after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis, and Kickapoos known as the "British Band" crossed the Mississippi River into the U.S....

.

The Warrior was one of several steamboats pressed into service by the U.S. government for use by military forces after the outbreak of the 1832 Black Hawk War. Warrior was used mostly as a troop transport during the war but it play a key role in the war's final battle. Some of the other steamboats utilized during the war included the Chieftain and the Enterprise

Enterprise (1814)

The Enterprise, or Enterprize, demonstrated for the first time by her epic 2,200-mile voyage from New Orleans to Pittsburgh that steamboat commerce was practical on America's western rivers.-Early days:...

.

Battle of Bad Axe

A few days before the decisive Battle of Bad Axe, Warrior was chartered by a United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 major at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin

Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin

Prairie du Chien is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 5,911 at the 2010 census. Its Zip Code is 53821....

 for the purpose of delivering a message to the Sioux

Sioux

The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...

 tribe. Lieutenant James W. Kingsbury, and Lieutenant Reuben Holmes were then ordered to take 15 U.S. Army troops, and six militia volunteers on board the vessel and head northward, toward the village of Sioux chief Wabasha. The men loaded a six pound cannon

Cannon

A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...

 and ammunition on the steamboat and set out to deliver the message that the Sauk and Fox were fleeing the U.S. forces. The meeting was an attempt to gain the alliance of Wabasha's warriors on the west side of the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

.

While returning from this mission on August 1, the vessel came across the remnants of Black Hawk's British Band attempting to cross the Mississippi River and flee the pursuing militia force. Waving a white flag

White flag

White flags have had different meanings throughout history and depending on the locale.-Flag of temporary truce in order to parley :...

, Black Hawk tried to surrender, but as had happened in the past the soldiers failed to understand and the scene deteriorated into battle. The warriors who survived the initial volley found cover, returned fire and a two hour firefight ensued. The Warrior eventually withdrew from battle, due to lack of fuel, and returned to Fort Crawford

Fort Crawford

Fort Crawford was an outpost of the United States Army located in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, during the 19th Century. The Second Fort Crawford Military Hospital was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1960....

 at Prairie du Chien.

Black Hawk and the other British Band leaders fled during the night and on August 2 militia and federal troops attacked the remnants of the group at the mouth of the Bad Axe River. Warrior returned after obtaining more wood in Prairie du Chien, leaving the refueling point about midnight and arriving at Bad Axe about 10 a.m. The battle had already commenced when the steamboat arrived and it joined in on a slaughter that lasted the next eight hours. Following the battle the Warrior carried Henry Atkinson and his staff to Fort Crawford where they met with Zachary Taylor

Zachary Taylor

Zachary Taylor was the 12th President of the United States and an American military leader. Initially uninterested in politics, Taylor nonetheless ran as a Whig in the 1848 presidential election, defeating Lewis Cass...

, and after a short trip General Winfield Scott

Winfield Scott

Winfield Scott was a United States Army general, and unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Whig Party in 1852....

.

Later service

Following the defeat of Chief Black Hawk, Throckmorton continued to operate Warrior on the Upper Mississippi River

Upper Mississippi River

The Upper Mississippi River is the portion of the Mississippi River upstream of Cairo, Illinois, United States. From the headwaters at Lake Itasca, Minnesota, the river flows approximately 2000 kilometers to Cairo, where it is joined by the Ohio River to form the Lower Mississippi...

 for several years. Historical records indicated that on June 24, 1835 the steamboat Warrior arrived at Fort Snelling, Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 with supplies and a party of tourists. The vessel's crew at the time still included Captain Throckmorton, as well as clerk E.H. Gleim, and pilot William White. Among the notable passengers on the list were, George W. Jones

George W. Jones

George Wallace Jones , a frontiersman, entrepreneur, attorney, and judge, was among the first two United States Senators to represent the state of Iowa after it was admitted to the Union in 1846...

, Marie Pauline Gregorie, who was the widow of slain U.S. Indian Agent Felix St. Vrain

Felix St. Vrain

Felix St. Vrain was a United States Indian agent who was killed during the Black Hawk War. St. Vrain died along with three companions while on a mission to deliver dispatches from Dixon's Ferry, Illinois to Fort Armstrong. The incident has become known as the St. Vrain massacre.-Early life:Felix...

, and artist George Catlin

George Catlin

George Catlin was an American painter, author and traveler who specialized in portraits of Native Americans in the Old West.-Early years:...

. Warrior arrived at Fort Snelling again on July 16. During the 1830s the Warrior was one of about 12 vessels that carried large amounts of supplies, mostly food and clothing, to Fort Snelling.

Old newspapers in Galena, Illinois also give some indication of the Warrior’s activity in the few years after the Black Hawk War. In the fall of 1835 The Galena Advertiser reported that river navigation was closed as of November 7 and that the Warrior, along with the steamboat Galena, had departed for Pittsburgh. Navigation reopened, after the winter, in April 1836, and the Advertiser stated that the Warrior was one of several vessels that had departed for St. Louis.