The Tri-Cities Blackhawks (which include Moline and Rock Island, Illinois and Davenport, Iowa) began as a National Basketball League (NBL) team in 1946. They joined the Basketball Association of America (BAA) in 1948. In 1949 the BAA and the NBL merged, creating the National Basketball Association.
Like Chicago's National Hockey League franchise, the Blackhawks were named after the famous Sauk Chief Black Hawk. Chief Black Hawk's tribe had been located in Rock Island and a major part of the 1831 Black Hawk War had been fought in the surrounding areas. Thus the owners named the team the "Blackhawks".
In 1951, the team migrated north to Milwaukee where the name was shortened. The team became known as the Milwaukee Hawks.
Four years later, the team moved to St. Louis to become the St. Louis Hawks. The Hawks relocated to Atlanta in 1968, just in time to win the division championship.
