ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — The Black Hawk sign in Rock Island is no longer standing.
Just before 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Public Works crews with the City of Rock Island loaded the fallen Black Hawk statue onto a flatbed truck at Watch Tower Plaza. Despite the concrete-reinforced base, the figure fell over during severe storms that swept through the Quad Cities on Tuesday.
One concerned citizen of Native American heritage set up a tipi to watch the statue overnight, when he said some people tried to steal it.
Rudy Vallejo is a member of the Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas and said his main concern is to keep the statue intact and in the community as a recent historical landmark.
"They were telling stories when they were younger, going to the shopping malls, Zaire's and other stores, you know, and just kind of reminiscing," Vallejo said. "They want to keep it, they really want to keep it here. You know and I'm with them too, I want to keep it."
Vallejo said he would like to see the statue remain in Rock Island County and thinks that Illiniwek Park in Hampton would be an ideal location.
A Rock Island city worker said they were taking the statue, and its base, to their city lot for safekeeping. The statue is already city surplus property and will most likely be listed to be auctioned off, as with most surplus property.
The fate of the Black Hawk statue had been in limbo since last year. Rock Island City Council voted in February 2022 to donate it to Blackhawk Bank & Trust. The bank had asked the city for the donation with the intent to remove, restore and then relocate the statue to a property on West 4th Street and West 3rd Avenue in Milan.
A month later, members of the Native American Coalition of the Quad Cities spoke out at the March 2022 council meeting, saying they wanted the statue to be completely removed due to its racist imagery. The Black Hawk statue was not moved and its future was not decided at that time.