Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
PIA-NO-SKY
PIA-NO-SKY. Important chief of the FOX. After the death of Julien DUBUQUE, Pia-no-sky was responsible for driving away from the LEAD mines a party of white men, including John T. Smith, who had purchased an interest in the Dubuque mines from the Chouteaus in St. Louis. In 1824 Pia-no-sky received assurances from Secretary of War John C. Calhoun that the United States Indian Agent had been instructed to keep all white men away from the western shore of the MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
In 1830 Pia-no-sky led a group of Fox toward a conference at Prairie du Chien when they were ambushed by DAKOTA warriors. Pia-no-sky and all but one of his party were killed. The victorious Dakota roasted and ate his heart to gain his courage.