Massacre The St. Vrain massacre occurred near present-day Pearl City, Illinois, in an area known as Kellogg's Grove. Felix St. Vrain, a U.S. Indian Agent to the Sauk and Fox tribes, was in Dixon's Ferry, Illinois, under the command of General Henry Atkinson prior to the massacre. A group composed of Aaron Hawley, John Fowler, Thomas Kenney and Alexander Higginbotham had been purchasing cattle in Sangamon County, Illinois when news of trouble with Black Hawk's band reached them. They immediately decided to return to northern Illinois to protect their homes. On May 22, 1832 the men left Dixon's Ferry for Galena, Illinois. At Buffalo Grove they discovered the body of William Durley, who had been killed in the Buffalo Grove massacre. The men immediately returned to Dixon's Ferry to report their find and remained in the town overnight. The following day General Atkinson returned to Dixon's Ferry on with dispatches destined for Fort Armstrong. Atkinson ordered St. Vrain to travel with the Hawley party and deliver the dispatches to the fort. The men traveled north from Dixon's Ferry and back to Buffalo Grove, where they interred the remains of Durley. They then traveled another ten miles toward Fort Hamilton before camping for the night. The next morning, May 24, they set out again, but stopped for breakfast after about three miles. As they finished eating, about 30 warriors approached. The men retreated, but four were shot and killed. Slain with St. Vrain were John Fowler, William Hale, and Aaron Hawley. An account of the massacre from Gen. George Wallace Jones, who was St. Vrain's brother-in-law and the man who identified his body, said the warriors had scalped the dead men, but also cut off the hands, head, and feet of St. Vrain and removed his heart. They reportedly passed around pieces of the heart for the braves to eat. At least one source indicated that the mutilation began before St. Vrain was dead. Three men, Thomas Kenney, Aquilla Floyd, and Alexander Higginbotham, managed to escape. They eluded the warriors and arrived safely in Galena, Illinois three days later. It is said that Aaron Hawley was initially able to retreat from the scene, but apparently was later killed as he fled. 'The Little Bear' incident Frank Stevens in his 1903 history of the war, The Black Hawk War stated the attackers were Sauk and led by Little Bear, a chief who