Blackhawk Park COE

My disabled son Justin is home full-time until the end of August, so travel opportunities are limited this month.  After Whitewater Lake, however, my daughter Allie offered to assume care-giving responsibilities for a few days to give me one more trip to test out the Brew Hut’s systems before my planned journey out west in September. Allie and Justin both wanted Elvis the dog to stay at home, so this would be a solo trip for me.

At Whitewater Lake, I tested out the off-grid systems.  For this trip, I wanted to make sure that the on-grid electrical systems were all still working properly.  Temps were expected to be in the upper 80’s and low 90’s, so I wanted the option to use the air conditioning and perhaps some television at night.

Blackhawk Park is an Army Corps of Engineers’ property on the main branch of the Mississippi River about 30 minutes south of La Crosse, Wisconsin. The campground is heavily utilized on the weekends, so reservations are recommended if electrical hookups are desired.  However, I was arriving mid-week so I took a chance, showed up without a reservation, and still found one of the few remaining sites with electricity ($24).  There were lots of remaining  camping sites without hookups available for $18, and some of those were really pretty and right on the river, although a little muddy. Here’s one of those sites:

Another nice feature of this campground is a three-mile loop that can be walked from the campground and next to the river before circling back through some backwaters to the starting place.  This gravel path can also be biked.  I walked the loop in the morning and at night.  Wildlife is mostly birds and jumping fish.  I saw bald eagles each day that I was there.

I was also interested in this area for historical reasons.  When I was a boy, I read a book about Chief Blackhawk, perhaps the most famous Indian chief from the American Midwest. He was a member of the Sioux tribe.  He fought for the British against the Americans in the War of 1812, hoping to get rid of American settlers pushing into Sioux lands.  That didn’t work for him.  Blackhawk continued to be pushed from Illinois, Iowa and then Wisconsin during the Blackhawk War of 1832.

I never knew the specific details of Blackhawk’s final loss on the  banks of the Mississippi River, close to where I was camped.  War is always messy, and this one did not end well for the Sioux or honorably for the Americans.

I knew that we drove Blackhawk’s people into the river, where they drowned and were shot. The part about Blackhawk trying to surrender to the steamboat captain and getting fired upon was new to me.

“I loved my towns, my cornfields, and the home of my people. I fought for it.”  (Chief Blackhawk)

The trip was a success.  The air conditioner worked great in the late afternoons for bringing the temps down to where I could open up the windows and sleep comfortably at night.  I watched a little free tv, which was nice for catching the late light news before bed.

During the next couple of weeks, I will be preparing the Brew Hut for its first long trip.  The plan is to be on the road in three weeks, heading generally for South Dakota and then points west.  Stay tuned.