Felix St. Vrain

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Felix St. Vrain (March 23, 1799–May 24, 1832) was a United States Indian agent during the Black Hawk War, fought in 1832 in Illinois. St. Vrain was killed on May 24, 1832, along with three companions, by Native American warriors while on a mission to deliver dispatches from Dixon's Ferry, Illinois to Fort Armstrong; the events have become known as the St. Vrain massacre. His murder was described as particularly brutal in eye witness accounts.

[edit] Early life

Felix St. Vrain was born on March 23, 1799 in St. Louis, Missouri, as the son of Jacques DeHault Delassus de St. Vrain.[1] He married Marie Pauline Gregorie, a French immigrant, and eventually settled in Kaskaskia, Illinois.[1]

[edit] Indian agent

See also: St. Vrain massacre
The grave of slain Indian Agent Felix St. Vrain
The grave of slain Indian Agent Felix St. Vrain

Felix St. Vrain started working for the United States government as an Indian Agent in 1830.[1] He was assigned to the Sauk and Fox nations around Rock Island during William Clark's tenure as superintendent of the St. Louis Indian Agency.[1] St. Vrain was generally well received by the tribes in the area, indeed, he had been granted the status of adopted brother by The Little Bear.[2] When the Black Hawk War started in 1832 St. Vrain was stationed at Fort Armstrong. While on a mission to deliver dispatches from Dixon's Ferry (now Dixon) to Galena, under the command of General Henry Atkinson, St. Vrain was brutally murdered along with three other members of his party on May 24, 1832. The group was most likely attacked by a band of pro-Sauk Ho-Chunk warriors, though sources vary as to the identity of the attacker's tribe.[3][2][3]

St. Vrain was buried by Colonel Henry Dodge and a detachment of soldiers, along with the other victims of the massacre in Kellogg's Grove, Illinois.[3] One account of the massacre, from Gen. George W. Jones who was St. Vrain's brother-in-law as well as the man who identified the body, noted that in the immediate aftermath the band of native warriors scalped all of the dead men, cut off the hands, head and feet of St. Vrain and removed his heart, which they then ate.[2] The victims' graves are still located in the grove.[4] On January 6, 1834 the U.S. Congress passed a bill which provided relief for St. Vrain's family.[1]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e Delassus-St. Vrain Family Collection, (PDF), "Biographical Sketch," Missouri History Museum, p. 3. Retrieved 28 July 2007.
  2. ^ a b c Stevens, Frank E. The Black Hawk War, Frank E. Stevens 1903, pp. 169-171. Available online at Northern Illinois University Libraries Digitization Project.
  3. ^ a b c "The Killing of Felix St. Vrain," Historic Diaries: Black Hawk War, Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved 28 July 2007.
  4. ^ Dameier, Evelyn. "Kellogg's Grove," (PDF), National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, 18 January 1978, HAARGIS [[Database, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Retrieved 26 July 2007.
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