One of the early pioneers in what is now North Dakota won a battle against a national war hero who later became president of the United States.

With a force of 30 soldiers, one piece of artillery and about 1,000 American Indians, Duncan Graham defeated the Americans under the command of Major Zachary Taylor at the Battle of Credit Island on Sept. 5, 1814. Soon after the Treaty of Ghent was signed, ending the war in 1814, Graham established a trading post next to Devils Lake.

James Alexander Duncan Graham was born in the Scottish Highlands in 1772. He came to America as a young man, heeding the call of Wapasha I, chief of the Mdewakanton band of Santee Sioux, who was actively seeking traders and trappers to interact with his tribe.

Chief Wapasha sided with the British during the Revolutionary War, but when the conflict ended he encouraged engagement with both England and the U.S. Graham became a close friend of the elderly chief and was given the Indian name Hohayteedah, which means "Horse Voice."

Graham eventually married the benevolent chief's granddaughter, Istagiwin, aka Susan Penishon. In 1805, Istagiwin gave birth to their first child, a daughter.

At the time, the Mdewakanton band of Sioux occupied the northern regions of what are now Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. Graham kept busy serving as a trading liaison between the Indians and British.

In 1806, Wapasha I died and was replaced by his son, Wapasha II. The new chief, Istagiwin's uncle, was also a man of peace. Although he encouraged the exchange of American and British goods and culture, he recognized the danger of alcohol and excluded it from the items to be bartered.

The peace and tranquility of Wapasha II, his band of Sioux, and the family of Duncan Graham was shattered with the outbreak of the War of 1812.

On June 18, 1812, the United States declared war on Great Britain because England had harassed its merchant marine and interfered with its frontier settlements.

The Sioux, Pottawatomie, Sauk, Fox, and other tribes allied themselves with the British in hopes of protecting their hunting lands from the Americans.

The British gave Graham a commission (reports differ as to whether he was a lieutenant or captain) and enlisted his services with the British Indian Department. On July 17, 1814, he assisted Lt. Col. William McKay in taking the fort at Prairie du Chien, Wis., from the Americans. Prairie du Chien is located on the Mississippi River, separating Wisconsin from Iowa.

In an attempt to eventually retake the fort at Prairie du Chien and to punish the Indians, Taylor was ordered to lead a force up the Mississippi to Rock Island, in northern Illinois, to destroy Indian crops and villages and build a fort to control the Mississippi and Des Moines rivers. Taylor sailed up the Mississippi River with eight gunboats and 350 (some sources list 430) men from the 7th U.S. Infantry Division.

Graham was sent to intercept Taylor and his force. Under Graham's command were 30 volunteer fur trade employees, and his arsenal composed of one artillery cannon.

Graham also enlisted the aid of about 1,200 Sauk, Sioux, Winnebago, and Kickapoo Indians to help him in his cause. However, he left instructions with them that there was to be no scalping or mutilation of prisoners.

The location he chose to launch this defense was Credit Island, which is the site of present day Davenport, Iowa.

Before daybreak on the morning of Sept. 5, 1814, Graham and his allies spotted the flotilla commanded by Taylor. The first shot from Graham's cannon blasted through the bow of Taylor's boat, and, simultaneously, Graham's men and allies opened fire on Taylor's soldiers.

Taylor realized that his objective was hopeless and, for the only time in his long and illustrious military career, he ordered a retreat.

Prairie du Chien would remain under British control for the remainder of the war.

The Treaty of Ghent was signed on Dec. 24, 1814, ending the War of 1812. The treaty outraged the Indian chiefs of this region who had sided with the British because they had not been consulted.

The British soldiers moved north to Canada; however, this was not practical for the Indians whose homes and families were tied to the land. Graham kept the trust of his Indian friends by continuing to live and work with them in land belonging to the U.S.

This article will be concluded next week as we examine the later life and legacy of Duncan Graham and his family.

(Written by Curt Eriksmoen and edited by Jan Eriksmoen. Reach the Eriksmoens at cjeriksmoen@;cableone.net.)