 Just as Lincoln was getting ready to speak, a fight broke out in the crowd, and his friend was roughed up. Lincoln jumped off the platform, grabbed his friend's assailant, tossed him a few feet, then strode back to the platform and began his speech. And then there was also a report of Lincoln losing a grappling contest. It occurred during the Black Hawk War years, sometime in the 1831-33 period, and took place in Beardstown, Illinois.