Stillman’s Run Battle Site Memorial in Stillman Valley, Illinois

In 1832, counties in central Illinois were calling for volunteers to protect the frontier from Black Hawk and his Sauk warriors. On the morning of May 14, 1832, tensions came to a head. Black Hawk’s warriors discovered Major Isaiah Stillman and nearly 300 militia men had set up camp uncomfortably close by, near Sycamore Creek in what is now Ogle County. Black Hawk, not yet ready for combat, sent…