Rock Island mystery: Where is Chief Black Hawk Statue and why won’t city let anyone see it?

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (KWQC) - For 60 years, the statue of Chief Black Hawk stood along 11th street in Rock Island as part of Watch Tower Plaza.

Now, it’s just an empty field.

For years, the statue has been controversial. Some Native American advocates said it creates negative stereotypes.

We connected with members of a tribe who feel differently.

Rudy and Zeno Vallejo are members of the Kickapoo tribe.

“All I would like to do is go see it and make sure it’s there,” Rudy said.

They are looking to put the statue back up for educational purposes to reflect the history of Native Americans in the Quad Cities.

“Have the kids come, and have the kids come in the school buses. Sit around and have their picnics. We could put up our teepees and explain what this area was all about many, many years ago,” Rudy said.

The statue has been gone for a couple years.

In 2023, it toppled to the ground after a tornado tore through Rock Island.

“It survived a lot of storms that have come through here and today, you know, it’s kind of sad to see it come down,” Rock Island Alderman Randy Hurt said back in 2023 when the statue fell.

Rudy and Zeno tried many times to connect with the Rock Island Mayor.

“The mayor is ignoring our emails, our phone calls and no response,” Zeno said.

When they connected with TV6 Investigates, we finally reached someone with the city.

In an email, Rock Island Community Engagement Manager Sarah Hayden confirmed the statue is in city storage. When we asked to see the statue, city officials refused.

No city officials agreed to an interview.

Hayden said anyone wanting to repurpose the sign needs to submit a plan to the city.

“They were talking about scrapping it, just scrapping the metal,” Rudy said. “Whatever the metal is worth, we’ll buy it for the metal, but don’t wind it up, grind it up and put it in a little box.”

Since no one can see it, Rudy and Zeno said they are concerned it’s not really in storage.

“The first thing they asked us is ‘do you have it in your hands?’ And I’m like, ‘I don’t have it in my hands,’” Rudy said.

Rudy believes many people in the community care about this statue.

“As a whole, the community and everybody that i talked to wants that statue up.”

TV6 filed a freedom of information act request (FOIA) to find out if officials have been discussing it in emails.

In one email exchange last year, alderman Jenni Swanson wrote “It needs to never be put up again. I find it offensive.”

Advocates have also urged aldermen to keep the statue in storage. Janet Moline with the Black Hawk State Historic Site Foundation told aldermen, “I hope the statue stays wherever it’s rusting away.”

As for Rudy and Zeno, they said they do have a few places in mind on where they would like the statue to go.

They said they are not upset with the City of Rock Island; they just want to see the statue.