out the militia to subdue the Black Hawk, and went upon the field
in person. In November, 1834, just before the close of his term as
Governor, he resigned to become a member of Congress. In 1837, aided
by others, he built the first railroad in the State--a short line of
six miles from his coal mine in the Mississippi bluff to the bank of
the river opposite St. Louis. It was operated by horse power. He again
became a member of the legislature in 1846 and 1852, during the latter
term being Speaker of the House. In 1860, in his seventy-third year,
he was an anti-Douglas delegate to the Charleston convention,
and received the most distinguished attentions from the Southern
delegates. After the October elections, when it became apparent that
Lincoln would be elected, he issued an address advising the support
of Douglas. His sympathies were with the South, though in 1832 he
strongly supported President Jackson in the suppression of the South
Carolina nullifiers. He died in Belleville in May, 1865. Governor
Reynolds was a quaint and forceful character. He was a man of much
learning; but in conversation (and he talked much) he rarely rose
above the odd Western vernacular, of which he was so complete a
master. He was the author of two books--one an autobiography, and the
other "The Pioneer History of Illinois."]

Long before the land was surveyed, however, squatters had invaded
the country, and tried to force the Indians west of the Mississippi.
Particularly envious were these whites of the lands at the mouth of
the Rock River, where the ancient village and burial place of the Sacs
stood, and where they came each year to raise corn. Black Hawk had
resisted their encroachments, and many violent acts had been committed
on both sides.

Finally, however, the squatters, in spite of the fact that the line of