• Black Hawk State Historic Site, Watchtower Lodge - Rock Island IL
    The Black Hawk State Historic Site, at the intersection of the Rock and Mississippi rivers, was an important site for Native American of the Sauk and Mesquakie tribes long before European settlers forced them off the land. In the late 19th century, the site became part of an amusement park known as the Watch Tower Park. In the 1920s, the amusement park was demolished and the site became the Black Hawk State Park. It was designated as a historic site in 1987. In 1933, two hundred CCC boys moved to the site and constructed the rustic Watchtower lodge, still in use today....
  • Black Hawk State Historic Site, Watchtower Lodge Murals - Rock Island IL
    The CCC lodge at the Black Hawk State Historic Site contains "two murals painted in 1936 by Works Progress Administration (WPA) artist Otto Hake. The murals depict the seasonal activities of the Sauk and Mesquakie Indian people."   (www.blackhawkpark.org)