Tecumseh and the Shawnee prophet. including sketches of George Rogers Clark, Simon Kenton, William Henry Harrison, Cornstalk, Blackhoof, Bluejacket, the Shawnee Logan, and others famous in the frontier wars of Tecumseh̕s time

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FAMOUS AMERICAN INDIANS.

TECUMSEH AND

THE SHAWNEE PROPHET. INCLUDING SKETCHES OP

GEORGE ROGERS CLARK, SIMON KEXTON. WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, CORNSTALK, BLACKHOOF. BLUEJACKET, THE SHAWNEE LOGAN, AND OTHERS FAMOUS IN THE FRONTIER WARS OF TECUMSEH'S TIME.

BY

EDWARD EGGLESTON AND

LILLIE EGGLESTON SEELYE.

NEW YORK DODD, MEAD & COMPANY, 751

Eroadwav. 1878.

COPYRIGHT BY

DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY. 1878.

PREFACE Ix

this

work

avc

have related

for the benefit of

the general reader one of the most romantic passages in

American

interest

We

history.

young people

have especially sought to

in the history of the

through the curiosity that everybody aboriginal It it

life

country

feels

about

and exciting adventure.

would defeat the purpose of the book

to

cumber

with foot-notes and references to authorities.

large

number

out of the

of works, including

way

it

necessary to refer by

to an original authority, even his lead.

A

list

when most

A

scarce and

books, have been consulted, but

have not often thought

lowing

many

we

name

closely fol-

of the chief works on the

various branches of our subject has been inserted at

the close, for the benefit of those

study the matter further.

who may wish

to

CONTENTS PAGE ;

Preface

3

CHAPTER

I.

Tccumsch's Nation

13

CHAPTER The Childhood

of

Tecumseh

25

CHAPTER Wars

n.

HI.

of the Shawnecs in Tccumsch's Childhood

CHAPTER The Revolutionary War

in the

.

.

34

IV.

West

—-Colonel Clark's

Expeditions

-

41

I

CHAPTER

V.

Early Batdes and Adventures of Tecumseh.......

52

6

CONTENTS. PAOK

CHAPTER Harmer and

Defeat of

St.

VI.

Clair

59

CHAPTER Vn. Skirmishes Avith the

Whites— Tecumseh and Kenton.

CHAPTER A

VHI.

Sketch of Simon Kenton

71

CHAPTER

IX.

Wayne's Victory over the Indians

CPIAPTER The Peace

at

Greenville

64

8^

X.

— Blue

Jacket

91

CHAPTER XL Death of Wawillaway—Tecumseh

CHAPTER The Rise

at

96

XII.

of the Prophet

CHAPTER The Band

as a Peace-maker.

105

XIII.

Greenville— The Prophet

in

Council.

118

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER

7 PAGK

XIV.

Tecumseh's Defiant Speeches

CHAPTER

130

XV.

Genera! Plarrison and the Prophet

CHAPTER

135

XVI.

Plans and Character of Tecumseli

151

CHAPTER XVn.

—

159

........

170

Formation of Tecumseh's Confederacy. ........

CPIAPTER XVni. Execution of Leatherlips

for Witchcraft

CHAPTER

XIX.

Meeting of Harrison and Tecumseh

CHAPTER

—

at

Vincennes.

.

174

XX.

Th-e Last Council between Harrison

and Tecumseh. 193

CPIAPTER XXL Getting Ready for

Wai

-

207

CONTENTS.

8

PAGE

CHAPTER The

Battle

XXII.

of Tippecanoe

216

CHAPTER XXHI. 224

Incidents of the Battle

CHAPTER XXIV. Tecumseh's Return

232

CHAPTER XXV, HulPs Surrender

-

240

CHAPTER XXVI, Sieges

and

Battles at the

Western Forts ......... 251

CPIAPTER XXVII. Incidents of the

War

— Hand

to

Pland Encounter,

262

and Death of Logan

CHAPTER XXVIIL Destruction of the Mississinewa Villages

Massacre on the River Raisin

—Battle and 267

CONTENTS.

9

CHAPTER XXIX. The

Siesre of

Fort

IMeicrs

2 71

CHAPTER XXX. The Second Attack on Fort

IMeigs

283

CPIAPTER XXXI. The Attack on Fort Stephenson

CHAPTER

2S9

XXXII.

Anecdotes of Tecumseh

CHAPTER

296

XXXIII.

Perry's Victory

301

CHAPTER XXXIV. Battle of the

Thames

— Death

of

Tecumseh

306

CHAPTER XXXV. After Tecumseh's

Appendix

Death

319

329

TECUMSEH THE SHAWNEE PROPHET.

CHAPTER

I.

TECUMSEH'S NATION. Since the savages on to civiHzed

men, the Indian race has produced no

He had

more splendid genius than Tecumseh. age and fortitude to these

were known

this continent

in

common

with most Indians, but

he added an imagination capable of seeking

the largest results, a practical

upon the

readiest

wisdom

that laid hold

means of achieving

his ends,

an energy rarely equaled by any commander. this

we must add

the tact to skill to

cour-

the knowledge of

command,

mold men

as

human

and

To

nature,

the art to persuade, and the

he desired.

He

sought to unite

the Indians into one vast confederacy or empire, and,

putting himself at their head, to stay the progress of the whites.

He was

result of the

defeated, but that defeat

inherent superiority of civilization to

savagery.

Had

opportune

field,

his gifts

been exercised

his

in a

more

he would no doubt have proven

himself one of the great leaders of men. in

was the

And

even

mistaken patriotism and foregone defeat, he

showed himself a shrewd

diplomatist, a great

mander, a persuasive orator,

com-

a statesman, and a man

of indomitable patience, brilliant courage, and won-

TECUMSEH.

l4 dcrful

power of gaining and holding the

allegiance

of his followers.

He came

of one of the most energetic and war-

The Shawnees have always

like of the Indian tribes.

been a

restless people,

They belong

other Indians. nations

more adventurous than any

known

to that family of Indian

This family was

as the Algonquin.

the most numerous of

all

the Indian races, and spoke

a language not very different in the different

The

tribes

ginia

and

which the whites in

first

encountered

Massachusetts spoke dialects of

gonquin speech. To

this stock

tribes.

in Virthis

Al-

belong the Six Nations

of Canada, the Chippewas or Ojibbeways of Wisconsin

and Minnesota, celebrated

in

Longfellow's Hia-

watha, the Crees of British America, the Mohegans, the Dclawares, the Kickapoos, the was, the Sacs and Foxes, and

Illinois,

many

the Otta-

other tribes well

known in the history of the settlement of the counThe Algonquin people are supposed to have try. constituted half the population east of the Mississippi at the time of the settlement of the country,

and

to

have numbered not

less

than ninety thou-

sand.

The language complex, and

guages speech.

like

of the Algonquin Indians

to the ears of those

our own

Words

it

is

who speak

very lan-

seems to be a very strange

are joined to words, and

still

other

TECUMSEH words are added

NATION.

S

to express various meanings, as to

time, place, person acting, person

so forth.

One

15

acted upon, and

of the most curious things in the Al-

gonquin languages

that the

is

words take on various

forms, not with reference to male and female, but

with reference to a division of things into superior

and all,

some of

In

inferior.

the dialects,

or nearly-

all,

animate beings are superior, while inanimate ob-

jects are

put into another gender, so to speak.

But

Algonquin tongues, the

divi-

in one, at least, of the

sion

is

more remarkable

— God, the

spirits or angels,

and men, are accounted superior;

and

zvonicn

all

lower creatures are another " gender."

The Algonquin

very stately and suited to ora-

is

tory, but not well suited to light

has

It

many

Chippewa wishes

they

When

affix to

it

to

that "

merely remarks him."

the

and familiar speech.

and rhetorical

delicate

say that a

of a dead person

not living.

is

should write,

"

dead,

he

is

spoken

Tecumseh

Much

after

his

as

though

Has-been Washington,"

to im-

ply that the Washington of

The

is

a

they have put the sand upon

name

death becomes "Tecumseh-e-bun."

longer

man

When

the termination of the past tense to

indicate that he

we

turns.

whom we

speak Avas no

alive.

history of the Shawnecs, even after the settle-

ment of America,

is

wrapped

in

obscurity.

They

TECUMSEH.

I

moved about

so

and

incessantly,

were

so

often

divided in their migrations, that \vc are unable to track the various divisions. that the Eries,

by

who

Some

are of the opinion

are said to have been destroyed

the Iroquois in very early times, were none oth

Shawnces before

crs than the

gan.

Certain

that

it is

early documents, they

when we

seem

and of uncertain habitation.

to

wanderings be-

their first

hear of them

We

hear of a war which

was being waged against them by the Iroquois time of Captain John Smith's arrival 1607.

They were

at that

the Susquehanna, and on tions

them

as on the

in

be divided, wandering,

in

at the

America

in

time located to the west of its

De Laet men-

banks.

Delaware

in

They

1632.

are

also said to have been located at the South, and to

have come from near Lake

concile these conflicting accounts to

We

Erie.

can only re-

by supposing them

have already divided into several bands, some of

which were their seat, in

in

motion, for other authorities

place

the latter part of the seventeenth century,

in the basin of the

Cumberland River

in

Kentucky.

Later they are found on the Wabash, where Tecumseh

long afterward made a new settlement, and

in

1708

they are spoken of as removing from the Mississippi

South Carolina.

The Swance

in Florida, derives its

name from

to

who had come from

or

Suwanec

a party of

north of the Ohio.

River,

Shawnees

Yet another

tecumseh's nation,

17

authority speaks of a tribe of Shawnees that had

been wandering

who were

for four years in the wilderness,

then

From

Creeks.

Shawnees were to be later

returning to

we gather

of which

all

in the earliest

— a people of

and

country of the

the

the

that

times what they proved

restless energy,

without fixed

unity or local habitation, very energetic and warlike,

breaking into small bands and reuniting again. den, in 1745, said that " the restless of all the Indians,"

quite gone

One

down

New

to

Shawnees were the most

and that "one

among

developed strangely

in

savages.

The

is

the usclessncss of

historic sense

uneducated people, and

mixed with

not yet civilized.

fiction

Some

had

tribe

Spain," or Florida,

thing that impresses us

tradition

Col-

in

all

fact

not

is

soon gets

annals of races

authors have quoted from

speeches of the Shawnees to show what their traditions of the creation are, but an Indian orator gets

up

his

account of the creation for the purpose of car-

rying his point at the moment, and his story

doubt quite as fresh to those of

may It

that

his ov/n tribe

is

no

who

be present as to any others. is

inferred that the

first

negotiated

Shawnees were present

at

beneficent treaty of peace and friendship

by William Penn

no assurance of

in

this fact, for to

ates but just arrived,

all

1682,

But there

Penn and

is

his associ-

Indians were simply Indians,

TECUMSEH.

1

and the

makes no mention of

treat}'

or names.

It is

guages were

quite probable that the Indian lan-

at that early

stood that the treaty

savages more in

The presence fact that in

1701,

we

nation

their

its

day so imperfectly under-

itself

was apprehended by the

peaceful import than in

of the Shawnees

is

its details.

inferred from the

Penn's later council with the Indians in

find

Wapatha, a chief of the Shawnees, ex-

pressly mentioned as representing his people

and

;

in

1722, in conference with the whites, the Shawnees are said to have exhibited a copy of the

though the two founded.

treaties of

About

first

treaty,

Penn may have been con-

nearly seventy families of

1698,

Shawnees, with the consent of the government of Pennsylvania,

removed from Carolina and

settled

They perhaps found remain-

on the Susquehanna.

ing there that portion of their tribe which was contending with the Iroquois

in the

time of John Smith,

unless the Iroquois succeeded in quite driving out.

And

these from Carolina

who had been

them

may have been some

expelled in the wars in which they

were almost always engaged, returning again

to

an

old home. In the year 1706,

Thomas

Chalkley, a minister of

the Society of Friends, found Shawnees and Senecas living at Conestoga, near the Susquehanna. lates

that

one of the

tribes

He

re-

had a woman among

TECUMSEII'S NATIOxN.

"On

the chiefs.

"they

in

called a council, in

and spoke one

who

which they were grave,

after another,

took part

in this

Quaker way,

his quaint

without any heat or

woman

Observing that there was a

jarring."

ent

informing them of our \'iews

them," he says,

to

visit

1

in all deliberations, the

pres-

missionary

how it came that a woman was admitted to council. He answered that some women were wiser than some men a proposition not inquired of the interpreter

—

difficult

even

This " an-

white people to accept.

woman" spoke much

grave

cient,

for

in council

and gave

her influence heartily in favor of the missionaries, so that

good Thomas Chalklcy adds that "the poor

Indians, and in particular

and women, were under a

of the

young men

solid exercise

and concern

some

of mind."

As

early

as

West,

allied

with the Miamis, and yet

1684 there were

Shawnees

we

in

the

afterward

hear of Southern Shawnees expelled from Georgia

emigrating to the West, and building a village at the

mouth

of the

wares,

who gave them

Wabash.

Wyoming, whither the famous vians, dians.

They

applied to the Dela-

territory in the valley of the

part of

them removed.

In 1742,

Count Zinzendorf, the leader of the Mora-

had a very curious adventure with these In-

He went

to

Wyoming

introduce Christianity

determined to try to

among them.

He was

not

TECUMSEH.

20 well received their lands,

ate

him

a small

him of seeking

the Indians suspected

and some of them determined

He

privatel}'. fire to

had warmed itself

;

to assassin-

with

sat in his tent at night,

keep him warm.

The heat

of the

fire

into activity a rattlesnake, that stretched

across his leg the better to feel the

fire,

but

the pious Count was too deeply engaged in meditation

to

observe the

reptile.

The

Indians raised

the blanket which served as door to his tent, but

seeing the venerable missionary sitting wrapped

in

devout reflections and peacefully unconscious of the presence of the snake, they were seized with superstitious terror.

They

hurriedly returned to their

man was

lage and told their associates that the old

under the special protection of the Great

vil-

Spirit, for

they had found him with only a blanket for a door,

and had seen a large

rattlesnake

over him

crawl

without doing him any harm.

When broke out

America

the in in

war 1754

between England and France

it

involved the English colonies in

a struggle with the French in

Canada

and the West, and the Shawnees on the Ohio took part with the French.

sylvania rejected

all

But those residing

solicitations

influence of Penn's treaties and

missionary labors

wards the whites.

to join

in

Penn-

them

;

the

Count Zinzendorf's

had rendered them friendly

to-

TECUMSEIIS NATION.

About

this

children,

time occurred the curious " grasshopper

beginning

which,

quarrel,"

ended

a

in

between

contest

Shawnecs

the expulsion of the

in

Wyoming

from the

21

There seems

Valley.

to

have

grown up a gradual estrangement between the Dclawares and Shawnees, which was fanned to a flame

by

most

a

The w^omen

circumstance.

trivial

the two tribes were gathering berries side,

when some

of the

Shawnee

by the

children

fell

of

river-

into a

wrangle with the Delaware children over the posses-

The mothers took

sion of a grasshopper. their children, the

Delaware

women

sides with

maintaining that,

though a Shawnee child had caught the grasshopper, it

was caught on the side of the

river belonging to the

Dclawares, hence the Delaware children were entitled to

it.

From

such arguments they came to blows;

upon which the Shawnee women w^rc speedily

driv-

en to their canoes by the superior numbers of their

angry ers,

assailants.

influenced

On

prepared to avenge the

The

Shawnees were crossing the

ward

until

many of

battle

river,

killed.

abandoned the

Wyoming and

tribes that

Soon

after

full

after-

half of the

this the

latter

with

those

settled

had remained

began while

and lasted

the Dclawares and

Shawnees were

Shawnee

the squaws,

but found the Dcla-

insult,

wares ready to meet them. the

Shawnee hunt-

their return, the

by the angry complaints of

in

the valley of

TECUMSEH.

22 the Ohio.

It

was here,

the Scioto, and the

volved

in the

on the Miami,

in their villages

Mad

River, that they

became

in-

savage conflict that raged so long be-

tween the Indians and the white

in

settlers,

which

border warfare Tecumseh was cradled, educated, and spent his

life.

The Shawnees were bands or

at

one time divided into twelve

but the number gradually declined

tribes,

Besides these bands there

to four. sion,

running through

what

are called " totems," the

could marry a person of his

a corruption

Each totem has some

name, usually of an animal; and

nees

another divi-

word being

of "dodaim," a family mark.

The

is

the Algonquin tribes, into

all

own

it is

said that

very small,

many

man

totem.

present remnant of the once powerful

is

no

of them

Shaw-

having become

absorbed by intermarriage with the whites no doubt.

Others

may have mixed

with the Indian

tribes,

but

the strength of this once powerful people has been

wasted

in

the

almost ceaseless wars in which they

have been engaged, against the whites and against other Indian nations.

They have

ever been eager to

take the sword, and they have perished

The Shawnees were accustomed

by the sword.

to boast of their

superiority to the other tribes, and their haughty pride

has had

much

struction.

to

do with

their conflicts

and

their de-

TECUMSEH'S NATION. "

The Master

1803,

2$

of Life," said one of their chiefs

"was himself an

Indian.

nces before any other of the

He

sprang from his brain.

in

He made the Shawhuman race. They

gave them

all

the knowl-

edge he himself possessed, and placed them upon the great island (America), and

all

the other red people

descended from the Shawnees. the Shawnees he of his breast,

made

After he had

the French and English out

Dutch out of

the

Long Knives (Americans) these inferior races of

made

his feet,

out of his hands.

men he made

them beyond the stinking

and the All

white, and placed

lake (the Atlantic Ocean)."

This arrogant pride and warlike ferocity made the

Shawnees one of the most formidable of

all

the tribes

with which the white settlers had to contend

Ohio Valley.

They

and

and carnage,

faithlessness.

forget that they tion

the

slew old and young, male and

female, without pity and without remorse.

joiced in battle

in

But

in

They

re-

in deception, stratagem,

judging them we must not

were savage.

Their whole educa-

made them what they were; and

in too

many

instances the white men, in the bitter struggles of

"the dark and bloody ground," civilization,

and

fell

into

the

easily forgot their

cruelty,

bad

faith,

and

revengefulncss of savages.

Tecumseh had tude of his race.

the pride, the energy, and the forti-

In intellect and humanity he was

TECUMSEH.

24

superior to them, but in

him.

man

He

all

their fierce antipathies

were

confessed that he could not see a white

without feeling the flesh of his face creep.

was a savage,

patriotically believing in savage

but he was none the that savage

life

less

one of the very ablest

has produced.

He life,

men

CHAPTER

II.

THE CHILDHOOD OF TECUMSEH. There

are always curious contradictions in the

accounts of an event that reach us only through the traditions of Indians

and

Tecumseh

men.

frontier

was born, according

to

some

accounts, in 1768, and

according to others,

in

1771,

some say near

cothe, though

Tecumseh

reported to have said that

occurred near the old Indian village of

his birth

There

Piqua,

is

Chilli-

is

a story that he and his brother, the

Prophet, were twins, and even that a third brother

was born

at the

same time; though according

to

one

account the Prophet and a twin brother were some years younger than Tecumseh,

— 1768 —was — 1771 — the date

birth,

later

who was perhaps

seems more

likely

that of Tecumseh's,

that the earlier date

and the

It

a twin.

of the

Prophet's

There can be

little

doubt that Tecumseh was born at the old Indian lage of Piqua, or Pickaway, on the

Mad

vil-

River, near

the Miami.

There

is

likewise a great contradictorincss in the

accounts given of the family history.

It

v/ould be

easy to believe, from Tecumseh's superior mind, that

TECUMSEIL

26

There

there was white blood In his family. ever, pretty

good evidence

tliat

assertions of some,

he had both Anglo-Saxon and Creek blood

his veins,

seem

to

Prophet,

bragging than he did voluble than truthful.

who

in battle,

The

as a small novel of the

tion, rather

excelled

dians,

story

is

in

interesting to

own

Prophet's

than for any probable historical

inven-

ba.sis.

this incredi-

was a Creek Indian, who, with other In-

went

to

one of the Southern

Savannah or Charleston, English

more

and who was more

His paternal grandfather, according to ble tale,

in

be entirely founded on a boast of

Lauliwasikau, the

us

how-

was of

that the family

The

pure Shawnee extraction.

is,

governor.

cities,

cither

to hold a council with the

The governor's daughter was

present at some of her father's interviews with the Indians.

She had previously conceived a violent

admiration for the Indian character, of which she

took this opportunity to inform the governor.

most obliging of

fathers inquired of the Indians in

council, next morning,

expert

hunter.

which of them was the most

Tecumseh's

handsome young man,

sitting

grandfather,

modestly

on finding that

his

then

a

in a retired

part of the room, was pointed out to him. ernor,

This

The gov-

daughter was really desir-

ous of marrying an Indian, directed her attention, council the following day, to this

in

young Creek war-

THE CHILDHOOD OF TECUMSEH. rior,

and

chiefs It

promptly

sbxC

in

fell

2/

The

love with him.

were informed of the young lady's attachment.

seemed

them

to

young Creek he seems

incredible, at

was

that the governor

but finding

first,

earnest, they ad\'ised the

in

to accept this piece of fortune, to

to

which

He

have made no objection.

Avas

immediately taken to another apartment, where a train of black

him of

servants disrobed

Indian

his

costume, washed him, and presented him with a new suit of

European

clothes,

after

ceremony was performed.

It

which the marriage customary with the

is

Indians to bathe a

man on adopting him among

may

be what suggested the soap and

them, and this

water part of the story to the Prophet's mind, though

one cannot but think

it

possible that he appreciated

the necessity for washing an Indian before present-

ing him to a lady.

The young warrior

did not return

home

with the

other Indians at the close of the council, but remained

He amused

with his romantic wife. hunting, in which

himself with

he was very successful, usually

taking two black servants with him to bring back his large quantities of

game.

Puckcshinwau, was a son of governor made

birth

the

thirty

guns to be

to

visit

fired.

The

Prophet's father,

this marriage,

great

This boy,

the Indians, Avas given

and

rejoicing,

who was

by them

at his

causing

permitted his

name,

TECUMSEII.

28

He

which means "something that drops." preferred

among

to

This

the Indians.

an account which

more

is

is

the Prophet's tale

credible states that

Puckcshinwau, was a

seh's father,

afterwards

desert the governor's house for a hfe

full

;

but

Tecum-

Indian belong-

ing to the Kiscopoke, while his mother was of the

Shawnee

Turtle tribe of the

name was Methoataske, and means eggs

in the

The

" a turtle laying

sand."

parents of

their tribe,

His mother's

nation.

Tecumsch removed

Avith

others of

under the lead of the great chief Black-

hoof, from the

South

to the valley of the Ohio,

They

the middle of the eighteenth century.

about estab-

lished themselves at first

on the Scioto and afterwards

Mad

River, one of the tributaries

on the banks of the

of the Great Miami.

by

birth,

Puckcshinwau was not a chief

but he rose to that rank, and was killed

the battle of

Kanawha in who

death, Methoataske,

woman, returned

After her husband's

1774.

spoken of as a respectable

is

to the South,

where she

advanced age among the Cherokee

Though

the Prophet

cumseh to

in

The

the

lived to an

Indians.

known by

is

Tecumseh never had but " a shooting star."

in

several names,

one, which

means

influences surrounding Te-

babyhood and bo}'hood must have tended

make him what he was

an Indian child

is

in after

life.

The

life

of

pre-eminently one of hardship.

INDIAN BABY,

(oii its

mother's back, strapped to a board.)

THE CHILDHOOD OF TECUMSEH.

We

can imagine him as a baby bound hand and

and strapped baggage on

his mother's

which come from the of an Indian hunter's take to

tlie

foot,

and carried Hke a piece of

to a board

Then he must endure

who

29

back

for the first six

months.

the long periods of famine

vicissitudes

and improvidence

Like other Indian boys

hfc.

water from the time they are babies,

Tecumseh, no doubt, enjoyed swimming

Mad

in the

and Miami Rivers during the warm summer days. His

first

bow and

toy was probably a

arrow, and he

learned to hunt as naturally as to swim.

There were seven children dian family, five of

is

were people of more or

said to

have taken great pains This

ucation of the fatherless boy. able, if

it

be

remarkable In-

Tecumseh's eldest brother, Chee-

less distinction.

seekau,

whom

in this

true, for there

be called direct education

is

is

usually

among

in

the ed-

rather remarklittle

that can

We

the Indians.

must remember that the only honorable occupations for

an

else is

Indian

work

man

for

are hunting

squaws.

Of

and warfare

course,

;

all

Tecumseh's

education was mainly in the arts of the soldier and the hunter, but Cheeseekau

labored to to

make Tecumseh

have taught him a love

everything

mean and

sordid,

is

said not only to

have

a great warrior, but also for truth, a

contempt

for

and the practice of those

cardinal Indian virtues, courage in battle

and

forti-

TECUMSEII.

30 tudc

Checscckau attempted the edu-

If

in suffering.

cation of his other brother, the Prophet, in

any of

these particulars, he must have failed signally, for he

possessed neither truth nor courage. "

From

boyhood Tecumseh seems

his

His pastimes,

a passion for war.

were generally

leon,

was the leader of

in

companions

his

and was accustomed

to divide

have had

like those of

sham

the

to

Napo-

He

battle-field.

in all their sports,

them

into parties,

one

of which he always headed, for the purpose of fighting

mimic self

by

all

his activity, strength,

the use of the

it}- i:i

of

cised

His dexter-

skill.

bow and arrow exceeded

that

by whom he

whom he exerHe was generally sur-

and respected, and over

unbounded

rounded by a stand or

fall

by

seems very skill in

influence.

set of

of Tecumseh's It

and

the other Indian boys of his tribe,

v/as loved

that

which he usually distinguished him-

battles, in

companions who were ready

his side."

Such are the

to

stories told

boyhood by some who knew him. likely that

he displayed

hunting and war, and above

in his all

youth

the great

powers of leadership, which marked him so strongly in after

life.

That Tecumseh was capable of strong shovv^n

by

his

regard for his onl}-

koosee, or Tecumapease, the better

sister,

affection

is

Menewaula-

name by which

known, and which was doubtless given

she

is

to her

THE CHILDHOOD OF TECUMSEH. later in

I

according lo Indian usage, to signify

life,

She was

her relationship to the great Tecumseh. "sensible, kind-hearted,

and uniformly exemplar}'

in

her conduct," and must have been a person of com-

manding

character, for she

is

said to

have exercised

a remarkable influence over the females of her

She was married

with her brother

Tecumseh up

He

respect,

making her many valuable

is

said to

favorite

to the time

death.

tribe.

Wasegoboah, or

to a brave called

Tecumapease was a great

Stand Firm.

of his

have treated her always with presents.

In considering the influences which surrounded the

I

>

3

boyhood of Tecumseh, we must not told

around the Indian camp-fires of the daily events

of the time

;

and

what these events the in

forget the stories

it

will

v/cre.

be necessary to

When

he was very young

war of the American Revolution began.

the Far

West

influence from

her rebellious

France on

at the

Living

of those days, he was not so entirely

removed from the Revolutionary War

some

here

recall

it.

colonics,

same

time.

as not to feel

Great Britain, remote from

was engaged

in

war with

She carried on the war

this continent at great disadvantage,

and

it

was

the policy of the mother country to use the savages to harass the

Americans.

That Tecumseh rent events

is

listened well to

shown

in his after

all

life,

he heard of cur-

when he evinced

TECUMSEH.

32

a considerable knowledge of the past differences be-

tween the United States and England.

The news which came Tecumseh, as

to the hearing of the

boy

which comes to us

our

fresh as that

in

newspapers to-day, consisted of accounts of perpetual

The

skirmishings, scalpings, and fightings.

and exciting events of border warfare,

in

successive

which the

Indians were very successful during Tecumseh's early

His patriotic

childhood, entered into his education. feelings

were

all

enlisted

who were opposing

on the

side of the Indians,

themselves to the ever-increasing

stream of immigration which poured over the Alleghanics

during the

last

of the

twenty-five years

eighteenth century, and w^iich became a flood during the

first

decade of the nineteenth.

Tecumseh was not more than his

father

was

killed,

and

his

when

six years old

family were several

times sufferers from the war between the whites and Indians.

During

all his

childhood this fierce border

war was waging.

Between 1783 and 1790, it was estimated that fifteen hundred men, women and children were

slain or

taken captive by the Indians upon

the waters of the Ohio.

The

loss

was

also

undoubt-

edly great on the Indian side, and the Avhites were often ready to learn from the Indians lessons of inhu-

man

cruelty and torture.

Tecumseh's childhood was

thus

rocked

in

the

THE CHILDHOOD OF TECUMSEH.

33

cradle of the Indian wars of the Revolutionary period,

and by

all

training

he learned to

English as

the strength of early impressions and love

war,

to

to hate the Americans,

allies,

regard

and

the

to op-

pose himself to the tide of immigration west of the Alleghanies.

Doubtless the boy Tecumseh, sitting by the camp-

and listening

fire

to the stories of this

to reminiscences of the "

and

the whites had not

savage war

good old times

"

when

come among them with guns and

strong drink and the superfluous wants of civilization, laid in his

boyish mind the foundation for his great

plan, in the strong conviction that the whites right to leave the

home

Indians had allowed them, and to encroach

upon the wilderness.

ther

up

carefully

all

injuries inflicted

He

certainly

had no

on the sea-shore, which the

He seems

to

still

have stored

that he heard of broken treaties

on the Indians by

was well versed

fur-

and

their neighbors.

in all facts of this kind,

though he naturally did not take the same pains

remember side.

also the instances of perfidy

on

his

to

own

CHAPTER

III.

WARS OF THE SHAWNEES

IN TECUMSEH'S

CHILDHOOD. About

the time of Tecumseh's birth (1768), the

Shawnee and Delaware

nations conchided a peace

with the Chcrokees, a Southern nation of Indians,

and remained until

peace with both whites and Indians

at

The cause

1774.

of disturbance which sent

them on the war-path with

the whites in this year

was the murder of Indians by lawless white men

of horses, without regard

retaliation for the stealing

to

whether the Indians killed were the offenders or

The

settlers

along the

in

frontier, feeling sure that

not.

the

Indians would avenge the death of their friends, pre-

pared for defence, and sent an express to the Assembly of the colony of Virginia, then in session, asking for assistance.

brated

Mingo

Hostilities chief,

were begun by the cele-

Logan, whose pathetic speech

He had

familiar to every schoolboy.

the

whites,

stroyed several

settlers'

friendly

to

retaliation for the

but,

is

always been

Indian-like,

now

de-

families indiscriminately in

murder of

his

own

relatives.

The

Earl of Dunmore, at that time governor of Virginia,

WARS OF THE SHAWNEES. raised several

regiments west of the

which he placed under the

drew Lewis, with

command

instructions

mouth of the Great Kanawha

River,

be joined by Lord Dunmore in the interior.

raised

Shawnees,

Dclawares,

The

to

35

Blue Ridge,

An-

of General

proceed

to

where he

\\'as

at the

head of

the to

forces

Lidians, consisting of

and

Mingos,

lowas,

were

under the command of Cornstalk, a renowned ShawGeneral Lewis, after a march of nineteen

nee chief

days through one hundred and sixty-five miles of reached the mouth

wilderness,

Here he waited of Dunmore.

several days

He

if

anything could be heard

from

Lord

Lewis that he had changed to

march

Kanawha.

Before the scouts returned,

of the governor. arrived

the

at length dispatched scouts over-

land to Pittsburg to see

express

of

expecting the arrival

an

Dunmore, informing his

directly against the

plan and intended

Indian towns on the

General Lewis, though not altogether pleased

Scioto.

with this change of plan, was preparing, early the

next morning, to obey the orders of the governor,

when he

learned that a large

body

of Lidians, Avhich

"covered four acres of ground," was close

When

who was

at

hand.

man

of remarkable cool-

ness, received this intelligence,

he lighted his pipe

Lewis,

a

and ordered out two detachments

emy, one

to

march

to the right,

to

meet the en-

some

distance from

TECUMSEII.

36

the Ohio, and the other to proceed along

About

mile

a

its

bank.

from camp they met the Indians

by whom

under Cornstalk,

two

the

were almost simultaneously attacked,

detachments it

being

now

about sunrise.

The commanders

uniform were soon severely wounded, one of

in full

them

resei-ve,

long,

rable

The

mortally.

from the

day

of both these detachments being

and

troops having been reinforced

the battle was

it is

waged stubbornly

ranked among " the most

and well contested that has been fought on

continent."

The underbrush,

ravines,

carrying

away

their

this

fallen trees

They succeeded

were favorable to the Indians.

their

and

all

memo-

in

wounded and throwing most of

dead into the Ohio, according to

their universal

practice of concealing their slain in battle,

whenever

possible.

There were many celebrated battle, sico,

chiefs present at this

among whom were Logan, Red

and Cornstalk, who

is

Eagle, Elenip-

styled " chief

sachem of

the Shawnees and leader of the northern confederacy."

It is said

that this chief,

friendly to the whites,

who was

had opposed

generally

this attack

General Lewis, but had been overruled.

on

In battle

he fought with great bravery, being the loudestvoiced and Indians.

most conspicuous

When

their lines

in

began

encouraging the to

waver he was

WARS OF THE SHAWNEES. among them "

Be strong

moment,

a

in

He

" !

"

crying,

3/

Be strong

buried his tomaliawk in

tlic

" !

head

of one of his retreating warriors, and, shaming the

completely

rest,

rallied his forces.

was during

It

father, the chief

day's battle that Tecumseh's

this

Puckeshinwau, was

son, Cheeseekau,

His eldest

killed.

Toward

fought at his side.

the latter

part of the day, the Indian forces, having been at-

tacked in the rear by the Virginians, began a slow

and orderly dians

conducted by Cornstalk, the In-

retreat,

advancing and

fighting stubbornly

back alternately, and

falling

all

At

the way.

came on the savages disappeared

length as night

in

the darkness.

After the battle they recrossed the Ohio and marched

Here a council of war

to the valley of the Scioto.

was held

to

determine future movements.

rose in council and

made

this

speech

we do now ? The Long Knives

(a

Cornstalk

"What

:

shall

name by which

the

Indians called the whites because of their swords) are

coming upon

us

by two

out and fight them ?"

Shall

routes.

kill

all

our

women and

until

we

Then

Cornstalk, striking his

are

killed

turn

Here he made an impressive

pause, and no one answering he proceeded

we

wc

children

ourselves

?

"

:

" Shall

and then

All

tomahawk

fight

v/ere silent.

into the

war-

post standing in the midst of the council, said with great vehemence:

"Since you arc not inchned to

TECUMSEH.

38

fight, I will

go and make

And

peace.'"

peace was

made.

Governor Dunmorc had marched

from the Indians suing

for peace.

press to General Lewis,

who had

and was marching Scioto, ordering

for

him

the

to within a few

met by messengers

miles of the camp, where he was

He

sent an ex-

crossed the Ohio

Shawnee towns on the

to retreat across the river.

The

general and his forces were so anxious to continue the campaign and avenge the blood of their ions, that

continued

them

in

compan-

they disregarded the governor's order and their

march

Lord Dunmorc met

until

person and repeated his

command emphati-

cally.

Cornstalk Avas one of those able Indians of

more than

the Shawnees had

was the earnest

among

whom He

their proportion.

friend of the

Moravian

missions

the Indians, and always encouraged any effort

which tended toward the moral and physical better-

ment of

his people.

highly as an orator.

He was also spoken of very When the treaty was concluded

betw^een the Indians and

Dunmorc, Cornstalk made a

speech which showed his patriotism and sense of justice.

He

described the wa'ongs his people had suffer-

ed from the his

colonists,

and contrasted the condition of

nation before their intercourse with the whites,

with their degraded and miserable state at that time.

WARS OF THE SHAWNEES. He

39

spoke boldly of the dishonesty of the traders,

and proposed that no commerce with the Indians should be carried on for individual

honest

men

should be sent

profit,

but that

among them who would

trade for such things as they needed at a fair price

and, above

all,

that no

should be allowed to

"fire-water" of any kind

come among them.

This treaty with Governor

New

a lasting peace.

Dunmore

difficulties

did not bring

were ever

arising.

Cornstalk's friendship for the whites, and his desire to avoid the disastrous effects of a

people, led

him

to his

death.

war on

his

own

1777, tv/o years

In

after the

beginning of the Revolutionary War, an

offensive

alliance

with

all

was

formed

Western Virginia.

against

his influence,

but

went secretly panied by whites, all

the state

in

Indians

the

determined to

hope of thus prevent-

much dreaded

Plawk,

who was

among

accom-

also friendly to the

After fully explaining

commander, he frankly of feeling

He

for his people.

to the fort at Point Pleasant,

Red

and another Indian.

to the

He

in vain.

give warning to the whites,

ing the war he so

among

Cornstalk opposed this

speaking of

said, in

Shawnees

the

:

"

The

current sets so strongly against the Americans,

consequence of the agency of the will float

with

it,

I fear,

British, that

in spite of all

my

The commander, Captain Arbuckle,

in

they

exertions." in

violation

TECUMSEH.

40 of

good

all

While

many

faith,

detained the chiefs as hostages.

they were there the officers in the fort held

much

conversations with Cornstalk, and were

surprised at his intelligence.

He seemed

take

to

pleasure in giving them descriptions of his country.

One day as he was drawing a rude map on the floor by way of illustration, a call was heard from the opposite shore, which he knew to be the voice of his favorite son Elenipsico, a fine young Indian, who was Kanawha.

Elenipsico, at

his father's request, crossed the river

and joined him

prominent

in the battle at

at the fort,

where they greeted each other very

tionately.

Soon

affec-

two men belonging to the

after

fort

went out hunting, and one of them having been killed

by some

longed rushed madly

in to kill the captives at the

fort in revenge, believing Elenipsico to

with him the Indians stalk

and

his

preter's wife,

dians

and

who

felt

a captive

an affection

to die like a slain

by

among

for them.

do with

to

agitated, but his father

being cruelly

Corn-

companions were warned by the

it,

inter-

the In-

Elenipsico

and seemed

encouraged him, saying,

" If the Great Spirit has sent

you ought

have brought

killed their friend.

who had been

denied having anything

much

which he be-

Indians, the regiment to

man."

you here

to be killed,

Which they both

the enraged soldiers.

did,

CHAPTER

IV.

;

1

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR IN THE WEST— COLONEL CLARK'S EXPEDITIONS. The

expedition of Colonel Clark against the Brit-

ish posts in the

West

illustrates so well the general

character of the

West

at that time,

methods of warfare, and interest, that

we

give

tain relations to the

shows the early

this

many

full

of

has also cerit

between the United States ground.

During the Revolutionary in possession of

It

of Tecumseh, in so far as

conflict

and Great Britain on

withal a story so

briefly here.

it

life

is

and the Western

War

the British were

posts on the frontier,

among

which was Kaskaskia, near the junction of the Kaskaskia River with the IMississippi, in what the State of

Illinois.

French

founded

post,

is

now

This place was originally a in

1673, but

it

had been sur-

rendered to the British at the time of the

fall

of

Canada and the consequent overthrow of the French power

in

America, and from

this

point the British

authorities during the Revolution furnished the In-

dians with the supplies which enabled

the

American

frontier.

them

to harry

TECUMSEII.

42

In 1778, one of the

first

expeditions beyond the

Ohio was sent out from Virginia against Kaskaskia.

command

This expedition was placed under the Colonel George Rogers Clark, a age,

immense energy, and

He

durance.

had,

Indian warfare.

man

peculiar

talent

for

Indians seldom fight in the open

Their great strength

battle-field.

of great cour-

powers of en-

incredible

besides, a

of

lies in

surprises.

They make sudden movements and plan ambuscades with great

A

craft.

lack of attention to these

peculiarities of a savage foe caused Braddock's defeat

and many other

tier

man,

in all

methods.

men

of

scarce,

the

and

skillful fron-

border skirmishes, adopted the Indian

In nearly

killed

But the

disasters.

all

frontier conflicts the

and wounded was

craft

expeditions

small.

took the place of sent

force.

from the East

Colonel Clark, were disastrous

failures,

that the large forces of regulars

number

Men were Many of

after

that of

from the

would march

fact

into

the country, allowing the wary Indians time to pre-

pare

traps

march only

into to

which the

A

would blindly

be cut to pieces.

The object of Clark's secret.

troops

expedition was kept a profound

regiment was authorized to be raised for

the protection of the Western frontier, and the confi-

dence

in

Colonel Clark was so great that no trouble

was found

in raising three

hundred men without delay.

COLONEL CLARK This

force

little

more than

made

EXrEDITIONS.

S

a wilderness journey

They

thousand miles.

a

43

crossed

of the

mountains of the ]\Ionongahela and descended by

Here they were

water to the Falls of the Ohio.

met by some Kentucky volunteers;

for

no

conflict,

great or small, took place on the Western frontier in

which the warlike Kcntuckians did not have a

The expeditionary Ohio

where they hid

proceeded dov/n the

force then

about sixty miles above

to a point

part.

its

mouth,

their boats to prevent their being dis-

covered by the Indians.

Clark's

little

army was now

one hundred and thirty miles from Kaskaskia, and the country to be traversed Illinois

—was,

Through

this

tation, the

men, his

low

its

prairie,

on

means

his shoulder

available the

morasses on their route. their

is

now Southern impassable.

covered with a dense vege-

and

They waded through

back.

after

— what

wild state, almost

brave colonel marched at the head of his

his rifle

quickest

in

his provisions

or crossed

on

by the

numerous streams and

They marched two days

provisions were exhausted,

and arrived

before the fortifications of Kaskaskia in the night.

The long march had been accomplished without alarming either the English or the Indians

had suspected

his

coming.

;

no one

Clark halted, formed his

men, and delivered a short and pointed speech, of

which

the substance was

that " the

town was

to

TECUMSEII.

44 be taken

great that the

But the surprise was so

events."

at all

capture was effected by

stratagem,

without resistance, on the night of the fourth of July.

The

inhabitants Avere closely shut within their houses,

to prevent intelligence of the arrival of the

cans becoming known in the other detachment was mounted on the

Ameri-

A

settlements.

horses

the

of

country and immediately pushed on up the Mississippi to surprise the villages there.

They were

all

taken as secretly and suddenly as Kaskaskia, and the

power

was

of Great Britain

entirely

broken

the

in

River country, by the sudden onslaught

Mississippi

of a few hundred men.

Winning the

favor of the French at Kaskaskia

by

kindness and shrewd management, Clark got them to take the oath of allegiance to

Then he dispatched to

the United States.

a friendly priest, Father Gibault,

sound the people

at Vincennes,

an old French

set-

Wabash which had become a British and which now lay between Clark and the

tlement on the post,

American

settlements.

Through

the influence of this priest in the absence

of the governor, Vincennes declared for the Ameri-

cans

with

;

but on the approach of Governor Hamilton a

British

force,

with one private

was forced

the

soldier

to surrender.

American

captain,

who

constituted the garrison,

By

planting a loaded can-

COLONEL CLARK'S EXPEDITIONS. non

in the

gate of the

fort,

and standing over

a Hghted match, the commander of son

of

45 with

it

this Httle garri-

two extorted the honors of war from

his

captor.

Vincennes, having been considered within reach of

an

attack from the Americans, had been strongly

and was now weU garrisoned, and under

fortified,

the

command

of the

Enghsh governor, Hamilton,

an experienced and excellent to

march upon Clark

as

officer.

certainty of success, for his force

proposed

was greatly superior

of the Americans, and he had also under his

to that

command

a

body

The season was ment seem ing

He

soon as possible, wuth a

such, however, as to

entirely impracticable.

country

streams

of six hundred Indian warriors.

low and

is

make any moveThe interven-

and the

level,

and

rivers

during heavy

overflow their banks

rains.

They were by this time greatly swollen. The British commander reasoned that Colonel Clark would also same reason

be unable to move

for the

him, and that upon

the shores of the Mississippi no

reinforcements could

from

the

distant

streams should to attack the

fall

by any

;

tary officer, or a

possibility reach

settlements. in the spring,

Americans

ance of success

at

that detained

As

soon

as

him the

Hamilton proposed

Kaskaskia with the assur-

and had Clark been a regular

common man accustomed

mili-

to regard

TECUMSEH.

46 difficulties or

even to respect

impossibilities,

Governor

Hamilton's plans would have been sure to bring victory.

He

reckoned badly, however,

in feeling sure that

man

anytliing could detain so impetuous a

anywhere.

as Clark

Shrewdly guessing what were the pur-

poses of the British governor, and having been in-

formed of the

saw that

size of

Hamilton's force, he quickly

to await his arrival at

Kaskaskia would be

The other expedient was almost

fatal.

perate; but he decided, in spite of

himself the

To

all

equally des-

obstacles, to

be

first to attack.

carry out this arduous undertaking he would

have to

pass, without a road,

and sixty miles of

" fertile

through one hundred

soil,

whose

light,

spongy

loam, saturated with water, afforded no firm footing

and to cross the Kaskas-

to the steps of the soldiery, kia,

the Little Wabash, the Embarras, and the Great

Wabash

Rivers, besides a

number

of their tributa-

of which were swollen and margined

ries,

all

wide

belts of inundated land."

for Vincennes,

however,

He began

by

the march

having nothing but a few

pack-horses and the backs of the soldiers on which to carry his provisions

was made

mud

in eleven

and ammunition.

weary days of plodding through

and water, the troops sleeping

shelter

This march

on the damp ground.

at night

At one

without

time the

men

COLONEL CLARK'S EXPEDITIONS. refused to

march through an

ed a

drummer boy on

little

47

Clark mount-

icy river.

the shoulder of a

ser-

tall

geant, and ordered the one to beat a

march while the

other proceeded

Clark

sword and

ward

!

fell

into

the

water.

by the

elated

and of course followed the commander.

scene,

man

dauntless

his

in behind the sergeant, crying, " For-

The men were amused and

"

drew

This

had each of the companies give a

"feast" on successive nights of the march, to which

By means

the others were invited. the

men were made

of these frolics

to forget the awful perils

and

hardships of their march.

At

last

which of

On

itself

seemed a

around

its

its foot,

while the western shore was low and

sink under his rider and

The

some

no

It

his

instantly buried in

now covered

for

five

places too deep for fording,

too shallow fof boats.

difficulties.

Hall, in

he has seen the horse

become

prairie Avas

miles with water, in in others

impassable.

bank stood the En-

of treacherous quicksands, where

mire.

River,

with the swift current of the river sweeping

" Sketches of the West," says

the

Wabash

barrier quite

the high eastern shore of

glish fort

full

they reached the Great

took him

five

Clark hesitated for

days to get his

now

starving and exhausted troops across this Avaste of water,

maneuvering successfully

from the enemy by

to conceal his forces

keeping as nearly under shelter

TECUMSEH.

48

of the timber as possible, sometimes wading breastdeep, and at other times using canoes or constructing

At one time when

rafts.

them by blacking

his

the

men

faltered

war-whoop, and making them follow

Having

he diverted

powder, giving a

face with

his

example.

he

at last achieved the passage of the river

appeared before Vincennes, surprising the post pletely as he

had surprised the more western

as

com-

forts.

Before attacking the post he sent secretly the

lowing characteristic

letter to the

fol-

French inhabitants

now at this manOne ifesto of a commander whose troops had eaten almost nothing for five days, and who were now to contend cannot but smile

of the town.

with a force greatly superior, a part of which was

composed of Indians who would show no mercy case they were victorious **

To "

in

:

the Inhabitants of Post Vincennes.

Gentlemen

lage Avith night,

my

Being now within two miles of your vilarmy, determined to take your Fort this :

and not being

method

willing to surprise you, I take this

to request such of

you

as are true citizens

willing to enjoy the liberty I bring you, to remain

your houses. to the King,

And

those,

if

any there fight like

men.

and

join the

And

such as do not go to the Fort shall be discovered wards, they

may depend on who are true

contrary, those treated.

in

are, that are friends

will instantly repair to the Fort,

Hair-Buyer General, and

and

still

severe punishment.

if

any

after-

On

the

friends to liberty will be well

G. R. Clark."

COLONEL CLARK'S EXPEDITIONS.

49

The nick-name of Hair-Buyer General applied to commander doubtless refers to the British

the English

use of the Indians as

allies,

and the

practice,

who

part of the savages, of scalping tliose their hands.

It is

but

into

Hamilton was

that

fair to state

on the

fell

magnanimous gentleman, notwith-

a courteous and

standing Clark's contempt.

The

latter,

like

many

other brave and patriotic soldiers, was not remarkable for observing the courtesies of

His spelling

personal culture.

is

life,

nor indeed for

very eccentric.

much "adju-

speaks of himself as having been very tated "

at

one time

;

he says " atacted," and he

receives " intiligence."

But

ucation of the schools to

commander, and

frontier

By

it

make

does not take the ed-

and

a daring

this last

he was.

round and round so

as to

make them

seem many more than they were, and by a tricks,

skillful

Hannibal's stratagem of marching

repeating

his few soldiers

He

some of which seemed almost

series of

like practical

jokes and school-boy pranks, he outwitted the English

commander

that he could

that he

He

ill

in

He had

every way.

afford to lose one,

men under

shelter,

had them now

rapidly and then slacken, so as to

hot

fire

men

had sent round by water had not yet come.

kept his

ing one

so few

and another force

party with another. the

men would

seem

After a

to

fire

be reliev-

particularly

shout and laugh as though 3

it

TECUMSEH.

50 •were only play.

Fearing that some important

dis-

patches intended for him had fallen into the enemy's

hands and would be destroyed, he concluded a surrender at once,

made with " Sir

if

to force

The demand was

possible.

characteristic effrontery, as follows

In order to save yourself from the impending

:

I order you immediately to suryour garrison, stores, &:c., &c. for if I am obliged to storm, you may depend on such treatment as is justly due a mm-derer. Beware of destroying stores of any kind, or any papers or letters that are in

storm that threatens you,

render yourself,

Avith all

your possession, or hurting one house in town, for, by Heavens if you do, there shall be no mercy shown you, !

"G. R. Clark.

"To

Gov. Hamilton."

Hamilton refused posed a

truce.

to surrender, but soon after pro-

This Clark refused, making up in

assurance what he lacked in force.

ton at

last capitulated,

much more numerous

Colonel Hamil-

surrendering to Clark a force

than the attacking party.

By

this victory the great north-western region was added

to the territory of the United States.

Two

years later the border war came directly to

Tccumsch's own home, left

in

an

affair

that

must have

a strong impression on the boy's mind.

The

Indian village of Piqua, picturesquely situated on a precipitous

cliff

overlooking the

dered by a beautiful It is

said that there

prairie,

Mad

River, and bor-

was then quite populous.

was within

its limits

a rude

losr

COLONEL CLARK'S EXPEDITIONS.

51

fort surrounded with pickets, and more than two hundred acres of corn and other vegetables had been planted there by the Indians.

This time Colonel Clark led an expedition of a

thousand Kentuckians against the Shawnees residing

on the Great IMiami. denly, as

was

to send

to

children,

He dropped upon them

the

woods

for safety their

among whom, no doubt, was Though they defended their

Tecumseh.

time, their villages were

destroyed. great

squaws and the

young

cabins for a

burned and the corn-fields

"This seems," says James Hall, with

justice,

method

sud-

and they had scarcely time

his fashion,

" to

have

been

the

most

effectual

for bridling the ferocity of the Indians

;

the

death of a portion of their warriors only increased their fury, but the destruction of their villages

corn-fields chilled

that

their

war could be carried

crippled their military

engage

in

and

courage by showing them to their

homes, while

power by forcing them

hunting to support their families."

it

to

CHAPTER

V.

EARLY BATTLES AND ADVENTUP.ES OF TECUMSEIL In 1786, Captain Benjamin Logan led a party of

mounted men

against the villages of Machachacs (or

Mcquacakes), one of the four tribes into which the

Shawnccs were divided on the waters of the

made on

His attack was

River.

the villages while most of the warriors were

absent, which

dian youths,

on opposite

may who

sides,

who defended

account for the fact that two Inafterwards became distinguished

should have been

stands,

first

those

In one of

Dayton

city of

Tccumseh, who was not more than

teen or eighteen years of age, the

among

the villages at this time.

Logan's skirmishes, near where the

now

and who lived

at that time,

Mad

time.

came under

He was under

boy Tecumsch took

similar story

is

Jacket,

told of the great

lost his

fright

and

Seneca

and of Frederick the Great.

instance on record in which

This

peril.

It is

fled.

chief, is

A Red

the only

Tecumsch showed

presence of mind in

for

fire

the charge of his

brother, the distinguished brave Chccscckau. said that the

six-

fear or

EARLY BATTLES OF TECUMSEH.

53

In this same skirmish, or in some other during expedition,

this

Captain Logan

Spemica

captured

Lawba, who afterwards took Logan's own name and

became

celebrated, not hke

Tecumseh, as the enemy Captain Logan

of the white man, but as his friend.

having entered a village from which, the warriors

were mostly absent, captured, with

slight resistance,

women and

thirty prisoners, mostly

after the conclusion of the battle

But

children.

he was

much

an-

noyed by arrows shot by some one with an aim

good

as

made

in

to

the

Search was

greatly harass the men. tall

grass about the village

Indian boy was discovered with

so

until

bow and

an

quiver,

boldly persecuting the enemies of his people, though

He was made

he fought single-handed.

and lived until

lie

in

was exchanged and returned

High Horn," but as

after his captivity

He

with Logan, the famous services v.'hich

the whites in the liant

;

own

is

not to be confounded

Mingo Logan

chief Avas able to

render to

war of 1812, were many and

but there was one

most friendly and tion here.

he was always

Logan, and was ever afterward a steadfast

friend of the whites.

The

to his

His name, Spemica Lawba, meant " The

people.

known

prisoner,

Captain Logan's famJly for some years,

faithful

earlier enterprise

bril-

of this

savage that deserves men-

TECUMSEII.

54

The

Indians around Fort

Wayne had

been show-

ing signs of hostility, and the whites thouglit best

remove

to

women and

tlie

were twenty-five,

children, of

whom

there

to a better protected place in Ohio.

This defenceless party was intrusted to the care and After nearly a hundred miles

guidance of Logan.

of perilous travel he brought

safely to their

His sense of responsibility

destination. cult

them

in this diffi-

and delicate mission was so great that he

not to have slept during the whole time of

is

said

its

per-

formance.

Tccumseh, a

made by

The

Ohio River large

a

to four

until

which

men

of

hundred

are propelled

commerce

greater part of the

vv'as,

flatboats

more than flatboats,

took part in an attack

the Indians on some flatboats descending

the Ohio.

by

later,

little

still

by

of the

very recent times, carried on peculiar

float

often

construction,

feet in length.

These covered

on the large Western

rivers,

great oars, that require from

to the oar,

two

and are moved by the men

walking forward on the deck of the boat

push the oars through the water. needs a crew of six or more.

as

they

So that each boat

In the time of peril

from the Indians several of these boats were lashed together in order that the force for defense might be greater.

day

TJie flatbont

led adventurous

men and

keelboat

and dangerous

men

lives.

of that

Voyag-

EARLY BATTLES OF TECUMSEIL jng-

down

great

the

Ohio and Mississippi Rivers,

they were a prey to the Indians and the laws

who

55

infested the river

fierce out-

and the wilds of Tennes-

see and Kentucky, through which their return jour-

ney by land was made. If

Tecumseh had manifested any

and coolness

mined

to

in his

lack of bravery

previous battle, he seemed deter-

wipe out the

stain this time, for

such courage as to leave

in the

he showed

background some of

The

the oldest and bravest warriors in the party.

boats were captured and the

exception of one,

who was

men

killed with the

all

taken prisoner and burnt

Tecum-

according to the barbarous Indian custom. seh silently witnessed the revolting scene, liis first

experience of the kind.

When

the youth expressed his abhorrence of the Indians so eloquent

they

all

agreed with him

it,

over,

and made

And

it

is

bcliex-ed

none of the party were ever afterward guilty

of participation

could better

over men.

mere

it v.'as

saying that they never

would burn another prisoner. that

being

forceful a speech that

and in

it

in

this fiendish

indicate It

practice.

Nothing

Tecumseh's wonderful power

was a very extraordinary thing

for a

stripling to succeed in persuading Indians to

renounce a custom so fixed and so suited to the savagery of the Indian temper.

From

the beginning of Tecumseh's

renown

this battle dates

as a brave.

In

TECUMSEII.

56 liunting,

which

he early

becariie famous.

About

the chief occupation of an Indian,

is

when he could not have been more

1787,

than nineteen years of age, he and his brother Cheeseekau, with a party of Kiscopokes

by

the impulse to

of the Shawnees

—

— moved no doubt

wander which was so strong started

in all

westward on an expedition

in search of adventure.

They stopped River, in diana.

what

for

some time on the Mississlnewa

now

is

the north-eastern part of In-

Here the young men were near home.

some months, growing bolder disposition,

or

After

more vagrant

in

they crossed the country westward and

encamped on the Apple Creek.

Mississippi, opposite the

After remaining for eight

mouth of or

nine

months, they started toward the country of the Cherokees, traveling to the south through Illinois to the

Ohio River, -where they engaged in

in

a buffalo hunt,

which Tecumseh was thrown from

had

his thigh broken.

for several

his horse

and

This accident detained them

months opposite Fort Massac.

After his

recovery they continued their wanderings southward

under the lead of Checseekau.

On

their arrival in

the Cherokee country they found that tribe at war

with the whites.

With

true

and adventure, they offered their attack

on a

fort, the

Shawnee

love of battle

to join the

name

of which

Cherokees is

in

unknown.

EARLY BATTLES OF TECUMSEH.

A

day or

may

tv/o before the assault

took place,

if

made

a speech to at a certain

hour on a certain morning they would reach the

and he would be shot told

them

however,

him

that they

fused.

in the

forehead and

would succeed

they persevered.

if

They

killed.

Cheeseekau was

sentiment.

He

joicing that

it

He

to induce

tried

re-

killed according to his pre-

with true Shawnee fanaticism, re-

fell

was

his lot to die in battle,

want

that he did not

fort,

the attack,

in

back from the undertaking, but he

to turn

we

which he predicted that

believe the story, Cheeseekau

his followers, in

57

to

be buried

at

home

and saying like

an old

woman, but preferred

that the fowls of the air should

The

Indians, always superstitious,

pick his bones.

were panic-stricken, and of

fled in spite of the

attempts

Tecumseh and the Cherokee leaders to rally them. The young Tecumseh had not yet had enough of adventurous

this

life.

nearly two years.

He

remained

in the

naturally to have taken the lead of his party. told his

them

that he

own country

of being told.

and going

was determined not

until

He

to return to

he had done something worthy

So he took with him eight or ten men,

to the nearest settlement

house, killed

South

After his brother's death he seems

all

he attacked a

the men, and took the w^omen and

children prisoners.

Such

is

the adventure which an Indian could re-

3*

TECUMSEH.

58

count with pride around the camp-fire on

Tecumseh

home.

tribes at this

them

a daring

Southern

Southern

in after

life,

in

when he was forming

During the w-hole time he

joining

life,

which was of use

as a brave,

his great confederacy.

led

the

and gaining acquaintance and a rep-

among them

his visit to

of

time, probably learning somctliing of

their languages,

utation

many

visited

his return

many

in

forays

the

of

His encampment was three times

tribes.

attacked in the night, but so great was his. carefulness,

and so excellent

At one

over him. attacked dow^n, in

him.

judgment

his

a camping-ground, that

Tecumseh, who had not yet

He was

was dressing some meat.

Under Tecumseh's

upon the whites and flight

lead,

by the sheer impetuosity

own country

little

band

on

laid

his feet

to follow

they rushed boldly

killed two, putting the rest to

out the loss of a man. his

choice of

time a party of thirty whites

an instant, and ordered his

him.

in the

no advantage was gained

with

of their charge, with-

Tecumseh

at last set out for

eight followers.

On

their

homeward journey they went through Western Virginia.

Crossing the Ohio near

the

mouth of the

Scioto River, they visited the IMachachac villages on J\Iad

River

;

thence they went

which they reached

in the fall of

absent from Ohio for three years.

to 1

the

Auglaize,

790, having been

CHAPTER DEFEAT OF

VI.

AND

IIAR?nIER

ST.

CLAIR.

If Tccumsch had a budget of adventure to relate to his friends

around the camp-fires, the Indians

Ohio had, on

their part, the fresh

victory

recount.

to

news of a great

preceding

Just

Indians had been fought.

was now seven years

It

since the close of the Revolutionary still

had been

Tecumseh's

between General Harmer and the

return, a battle

English

in

War, but the

held posts in the Western country.

stipulated,

when

It

the independence of the

United States was acknowledged by Great that

Americans should be held responsible

due

to British subjects,

Britain,

for debts

which had been contracted

before the -war and repudiated after the Revolution

began.

But under the

earlier

form of government,

the United States could not enforce the collection of these debts in opposition to statutes enacted several States to failure of

British

by the This

our government to comply with one of the

stipulations of

ment

defeat the

creditor.

the treaty gave the British govern-

a pretext for refusing to surrender the frontier

posts, the

holding of which kept the profitable fur

TECUMSEII.

Go

trade in the hands of

Enghsh

were not surrendered

made,

new

until a

Meantime

in 1794.

These posts

traders.

treaty

had been

the presence of this semi-

and of the English

hostile military power,

traders,

kept the Indians in a state of constant enmity to the

growing American settlements

Harmer had been

West.

at the

sent into the

West

at the

The

hundred Kentucky volunteers.

eleven

head

hundred Federal troops and over

of about three

sole

object of this expedition was to penetrate into the

Miami country and This

Indians. it

it

to destroy the corn- fields of the

accomplished successfully

attempted nothing more,

The

forces

Kentucky

troops,

was sent out

He

miles directly into a trap.

own

and

his

in

the

men had

tall grass.

troops.

stricken

Hardin

enemy

with

for six

Indians had retreated,

two

and then approached

When

parties,

had

either side of it,

concealing

Colonel Hardin

v/alked into this snare, the savages

suddenly appeared on

in

The

some distance on

at

trail,

themselves

in pursuit,

followed the

after dividing themselves into

countermarched their

well.

commander

Colonel Hardin, the

a small detachment.

and

and had

were about to return, when some In-

dians were seen. of the

;

would have been

all

all

bravel)^

sides

and hred upon the

tried

to

rally

his

panic-

men, but the Indians were greatly superior

numbers

to

this

detachment, and they charged

DEFEAT OF IIARMER AND upon the all

soldiers with

but those

Two

days

CLAIR.

ST.

6

gun and tomahawk, destroying

who saved

themselves

later the

army again

b}' flight.

out on

set

its

re-

After marching about ten miles from the

turn.

ruined villages, Avith a

Harmer

sent back

detachment of four or

and about sixty regulars

where he supposed the

to

hundred

militia

principal

towns,

Indians

would

five

the

scattered

But by

gather on the departure of the troops.

movement Harmer

who

this

again foolishly divided his army.

There Avere only a few Indians found however,

Mardin

Colonel

the village,

at

The undis-

on being attacked.

fled

ciplined militia, eager for revenge, rushed off with-

out orders in pursuit of them, leaving the regulars at

the village.

It

was

for

some such subdivision

the wily savages

were waiting.

the regular troops

left

No

alone than an

that

sooner were

immense num-

ber of Indians rose from an ambuscade.

A

fierce

followed, the enraged Indians throwing aside

battle

guns and fighting with tomahawks, and the Amerwith their bayonets, with which

icans

they

great havoc in the Indian ranks for a time.

savages greatly

brave

these Willis,

The

were

militia

made The

outnumbered them, however, and

troops

and

slain

almost

had been

their

to

commander.

Major

very

man.

the

recalled,

last

but though

they

fought a brave battle, and themselves suffered con-

TECUMSEH.

62

siderablc loss, they were too late to relieve the reg-

They

ulars.

retired at last

good order before

in

the superior numbers of the savages, their ranks "like

who

attacked

demons."

In this victory over General Harmcr, Blue Jacket,

an

Shawnee

influential

chief of the Miamis,

The year

and

Little

Turtle, a

the Indians.

following Tecumseh's return he spent

In

hunting.

in

chief,

commanded

the

fall

1791, news

of

reached

the Indians that General St. Clair was preparing to

march

into their country.

The young

cumseh was sent out with a party of the

movements of

this

new

warrior Tc-

spies to

expedition.

watch Clair,

St.

a brave and veteran soldier, began his march cautiously

Two

the

at

forts

head of fourteen

hundred

were erected about forty miles

troops.

apart,

on

the route, for places of deposit, and to secure safety in case of retreat.

While Tccumsch and

his party

were lying on Nettle Creek, a stream which flows into the Great Miami, St. Clair passed out through

Greenville to the head waters of the Wabash. this

way

it

happened that Tecumseh, acting

In as a

scout, did not participate in the battle itself

General fare,

St. Clair,

was suddenly,

who had no skill in Indian warat a moment when he fancied

himself secure, attacked on

whelming

force

of

Indians,

all

sides

by an over-

who had

long

been

DEFEAT OF HARMER AND hanging upon

his

and

flanks,

ST.

CLAIR.

had

thus

63

become

thoroughly acquainted with the numbers and

The

position of his troops.

countless stricken

hordes of

and

fled,

savages,

yells,

lay their hands

they turned

all

by

sides

they became panic-

pursued by the Indians, who flUed

the air with demoniac

could

on

themselves environed

but seeing

dis-

soldiers fought bravely,

back at

on. last

while they killed

Weary

all

they

with slaughter,

to enjoy the

plunder of

the deserted camp.

The

troops had

been formed

in close order;

a

plan which was always bad, and which was wholly

given up in Indian warfare after this disaster. close order of the whites

advantage, and

The

gave the Indians a great

St. Clair's loss in this

to

nearly eight hundred, while

•the

Indian loss did not

it

defeat is

much exceed

amounted

supposed that ten men.

The

whole country was plunged into grief and consternation

by

this

overthrow of an army regarded as

well-nigh invincible.

CHAPTER

VII.

SKIRMISHES WITH THE WHITES— TECUMSEH AND KENTON. In the month of December, 1792, Tecumseh was

encamped with called

ten warriors and a boy, near a place

Big Rock.

As

the party sat smoking around

camp-fire, early

their

suddenly

morning, they were

the

in

upon by a company of whites

fired

nearly three times their

number, under

of Robert

Tecumseh

McClelland.

war-whoop, and the Indians sprang

feet

and returned the

fire.

He

command

instantly

the

told the

to

boy

gave their

to run,

but looking around saw Black Turkey, one of warriors,

running

Tecumseh

also.

him back, and although he was and joined

in the fight.

one was

slain

Two

called

a hundred

yards

and

the order

whites were killed, of

by Tecumseh himself

land's party retreated,

his

angrily

away when Tecumseh saw him, he obeyed

whom

of

wliilc following

McClel-

them Te-

cumseh broke the

trigger to his gun, and then gave

over the pursuit.

The

Indians

came

off with a loss

SKIRMISHES WITH THE WHITES. of but two wounded, one of

whom

65

was the runaway,

Black Turkey. In Tecumseh's next adventures he flict

all

came

into con-

with Simon Kenton, one of the most famous of

men and

the frontier

Indian fighters.

1792, some horses were

Kentucky by

A

Indians.

In March,

stolen from settlements in

party of thirty-six whites

immediately

gathered to pursue the marauders,

of this party

Kenton was the

trail

Following the

leader.

of the Indians they crossed the Ohio River

means of trail

all

ground.

pursuit. trail

the next day in bad weather and over wet

The

following morning twelve

The remaining twenty-four about eleven

until

they heard the tinkling of a

men were accustomed horses.

by

and continued to follow the Indian

rafts,

men were

permitted to return, being unable to continue

the

and

in

followed

when

the morning,

bell,

to tic

still

the

such as the frontier

on the necks of

their

Supposing themselves to be near an Indian

encampment, baggage were

unnecessary articles of clothing and

all

laid aside,

and two detachments sent

The

ahead to reconnoitcr.

that the sound of the bell

scouts advancing found

was coming

was ordered, and the whites saw a proaching them.

were again sent

lie

A

halt

solitary Indian ap-

was dispatched, and the scouts

forAvard

finding an Indian

nearer.

by Kenton, who

encampment

felt

close at hand.

sure of

This

TECUMSEH.

66

they soon discovered on a fork of the Little Miami.

But the Indian

force appeared to be so large that on

calling a council

came

night

on,

was thought best

it

a retreat could be effected with-

if

This was

out discovery.

done, two scouts being

At

watch the enemy's camp.

left to

being wet and ravine,

cold, the

where a

to retire until

men

night, the

party was marched into a

could be built without danger of

fire

discovery by means of the smoke.

The men were then which were

divided into three divisions,

attack the

to

Indians simultaneously.

They had approached very near the camp when an Indian rose and stirred the

fire.

For

fear of discov-

The

ery he was instantly shot, and the attack began. whites had

chosen

"Boone"

choice of a watchword

This

for

their

watchword.

was unfortunate,

Boone's was a name which the savages had

rood reasons

for

for

many

knowing, and which was indeed

quite as familiar to their ears as to those of the whites.

The

made after midnight, and it was very few moments the whites and Indians

attack was

dark.

In a

were mingled together; wild and confusing " Boone," and "

both

i:)artics.

Che Boone,"

the presence of first

all

sides

Kenton expected the Indians

panic-stricken at the

the

arose on

cries of

first

from to

be

dash of a night attack, but

Tecumseh had prevented

this.

alarm he had rushed forward and

At

killed a

SKIRMISHES WITH THE WHITES.

man

white

\\ith his

war-club, and his presence of

mind and the confidence of the Indians

in his leader-

By some

ship quite defeated Kenton's hopes. said that

6/

more probable which fell

made

into the

how

tells

water

in the

the

melee an In-

splashing which he

the

;

is

led the whites to believe that reinforcements

were coming.

Kenton accordingly ordered

a retreat

They were pursued

few minutes of fighting.

after a

by

is

Kenton discovered another camp on the

opposite bank of the river, but that account

dian

it

the Indians through the remainder of the night

and a part of the next day.

On

the day previous to this battle one of the white

men had succeeded which he had tied retreat off.

catching an Indian horse,

was ordered he mounted

When

camp.

in the rear of the

this

a

horse and rode

Early the following morning Tecumseh and

four of his

men

started out in pursuit of the retreat-

ing Kentuckians.

Discovering

followed him, and at

had stopped

to

last

man's

this

trail,

they

came upon him where he

cook some meat.

of the Indians, two of

him.

in

whom

He

fled

at sight

with Tecumseh pursued

Seeing that they would inevitably overtake

him, he turned and aimed his gini at them.

two Indians who were

in

mediately sprang behind

The

adwance of Tecumseh imtrees,

up and took him prisoner.

but Tecumseh rushed

He was

tied

and taken

TECUMSEH.

68 back

to

Tccumseh then asked some of

camp.

the

Indians to catch the horses, but as they seemed un-

wiUing to do

When men

it,

he went himself with one other.

he returned to the camp, he found that

At

had killed the prisoner.

indignant, angrily denouncing

as

it

his

he was very

cowardly to

kill

In this matter of the treatment

a helpless captive.

of prisoners, he was always

far

the savages, and indeed more

of the white

this

more humane than

humane than many

settlers.

Tecumseh's next skirmish was with another party In 1793, a party of thirty-three

under Kenton.

was formed

to cut off

ed settlements

in

some Indians who had

Kentucky,

and were

tion

Kenton commanded one of the three

into

which the small party

Creek.

Soon

attack-

returning

In this expedi-

through Ohio with their prisoners.

vrcre

crossing the Ohio River, they

divisions

After

divided.

encamped near Paint

after their halt for

the night, a noise

was heard, and an Indian cam^p was discovered at hand.

This camp

men

close

was not that of the marauders,

but of Tecumseh, who with a few followers, accompanied by their W(3men and children, was engaged in

hunting on the banks of

rcc(.)nnoitered

and found

tliat

this crock.

whites

the Indian horses were

between them and the Indian camp. that no attack should be

The

made on

It

was decided

the Indians until

SKIRMISHES WITH THE WHITES. it

69

The

should be light enough to shoot accurately.

plan was for each of the three bodies of

men

to place

themselves on different sides of the encampment,

which would then be guarded, as the creek was on

The Kentuckians marched

the fourth side.

enemy's camp very

had reached

whites

the

gun was began

instantly

rushing to their positions

deranged by the

first

camp.

side of the

seven, that the

stantly "treed,"

this alarm,

men

the

attack,

their

but the plan was entirely

wrong

Tccumseh

called

that

whom

their

were but six or

children must be defend-

sent back the battle cry, and in-

Western parlance

in

cealed themselves

On

fired.

party's having taken the

women and

The Indians

dark,

;

dog barked among

a

It is said

out to his warriors, of

ed.

Before two of the parties

early.

their positions,

the Indians, and a

to tlic

behind

trees.

— that

was

It

con-

is,

quite

still

and a good deal of random shooting and much

Indian shouting was done with

little

time Tccumseh sent some of his rear of the

At

effect.

men around

whites to get the horses

;

this

to the

these were

brought to the front without discovery, and the Indians

quickly mounted and rode awa}% carrying

them

witli

the

all

name

when

their only

of John

wounded man, a white man by

Ward.

three years old

lie

by the

had

Indians,

l^ccn

captured

among whom

he had grown up, married, and raised several

chil-

TECUMSEII.

70 drcn.

Curiously enough, he was

one of the men associated

Simon Kenton. ceived in this

in this

the

brother

John Ward died of the wound

fight.

So strange were the

of border hfe in that day.

of

expedition with re-

vicissitudes

CHAPTER

VIII.

A SKETCH OF SIMON KENTON. Simon Kenton of

lives,

and there

tures give us a

and of the

one of the most eventful

lived is

more

no

man whose adven-

frontier

vivid picture of border warfare,

and Indians

relations of the settlers

time of Tecumsch's advent, than chapter, therefore,

give a sketch of

we

some

was several times

turn aside from incidents in the

Tecumseh

life

fled

to

who

of one

Kenton

his antagonist.

at the

In the present

his.

from

Virginia at seventeen years of age, in consequence of a fight with a affections

of a

young man who was his rival in the The girl had been country belle.

unable to decide between the two likely,

fight

it

;

or what

is

more

had preferred the glory of having her lovers out.

Kenton was but sixteen when the

fight

took place, and, owing to foul play on the part of the friends of his robust

A

rival,

he had been beaten.

year after he sought another

fight, in

antagonist, after throwing him, kicked

him

brutally.

He however managed

of his humiliation to

tie his

very long, to some brush,

enemy's after

which

his

and taunted

in the hair,

moment

which was

which he beat him

TECUMSEir.

72 most unmercifully.

West and assumed became renowned

One of

name

the

Kenton

as

who was

man

like

About

who was

1/77, Kenton,

a

Indian horses.

the Indians,

in

front,

two

the Little Miami.

off with

In

number of

a

They

while the other one rode

horses with a whip to keep

They dashed through

to time.

thus, hearing behind

Indians.

acting as a scout

capacity with

this

made

rear, lashing the

them up

ordinary

They were discovered and chased by The captured horses Avere led by two

who rode

in the

in

Shawnee town on

adventure, the spies

men,

the

Tecumseh.

men to

other

of

that

quite different from the exceptional

under Boone, was sent

this

flghtcr.

illustrate the character

backwoodsman and

the

Here he

Butler.

(^f

avouIcI

fled to the

a hunter and Indian

of his adventures will

Indian,

man

Believing that the

die from the effects of the beating,

them the

rode

the

cries of the

forward,

woods

pursuing

aiming a straight

course for the Ohio River, during the whole night,

without

stopping to

rest,

and

after

a short time in the morning, traveled

and the following river far ever,

ahead of

were so rough that

it

all

that

day

thus reached the

their pursuers.

the animals to cross.

them

They

night.

halting but

Its waters,

was impossible

They were

how-

to force

unwilling to

go, however, in order to save their

own

let

lives.

SIMON KENTON. Death or

*'

captivity

might be

73

tolerated, but the loss

of so beautiful a lot of horses, after having worked so hard for them, was not to be thought

The

of

Indians were upon them at the close of twen-

ty-four hours which they had wasted on this spot.

Kenton's gun flashed when he

and he

fired,

tried to

save himself by^ running through the woods, but an

up near him, extending

Indian soon galloped liand

and

Kenton

!"

er

said afterwards that

have made

was wet, would ^'

brothered

"

him

to

if

his gun,

he would have

fire

Making

heart's content.

his

which

him promise good treatment, however, Kenton rendered. erl}'^

his

his

cahing out affectionately, " Brother! broth-

He

then received

many

sur-

proofs of broth-

kindness, the Indians using their ramrods over

head and exclaiming with indignation,

Indian friends

hoss,

hey!"

Meantime,

The forcing

one of Kenton's

was shot while bravely riding

but the other made good

" Steal

to his rescue,

his escape.

captors secured their prisoner for the night

him

to lie

upon

liis

by

back and putting a stout

pole across his breast, to which they fastened his wrists with thongs

were then made

made

fast

in the

A

driven into the ground. his

neck and secured

His

of buffalo hide.

to

a

same manner halter

was

feet

to stakes

tied

around

sapling growing near.

Finally a strong rope was passed around his bi'east

TECUM SEH.

74 and

tied to the stick to

which

his

arms had been

tened, his elbows also being tied to this pole. this

fas-

While

operation was being performed they boxed his

cars soundly, calling rascal !"

him

"

A

tief

and swearing profusely

!

a hoss steal

at the

!

a

same time.

For, as the author of " Western Adventure " says, "

Indians had picked up a good

the Western

all

many

English words, particularly our oaths, which,

from the frequency with which they were used by our hunters and traders, they probably looked upon as the very root

and foundation of the English lan-

guage."

The in

Indians with their prisoner were three days

reaching their village of Chillicothe.

night he was confined in the the day time was fine, wild,

tied,

for

way

their

and entirely unbroken

During the

described, and in

amusement, on a

colt,

which was one

of the horses the Indians had recovered from

Ken-

ton's party.

When

they came near Chillicothe, the party halted

and a messenger was sent forward lage of their arrival. fish

to inform the vil-

A chief by the

soon came to meet them.

He

name

of Black-

regarded Kenton

severely.

"You have been

stealing horses?" he shouted, in

good English. "Yes,

sir,"

answered Kenton.

SIMON KENTON.

"Did Captain Boone demanded "No,

you

tell

75

to steal our horses?"

the chief.

sir;

did

I

my own

of

it

accord,"

said

Kenton. This

enraged

Blackfish

hickory stick with

great

he applied a

so

that

force

to

Kenton's back

all

the inhabitants,

and shoulders.

On

ncaring the village he saw^

down to He was now

men, women, and children

the

running to meet him.

greeted with

torrents of abuse,

and demands that he should be This operation was

immediately tied to the stake. soon performed, the

sq_uaws assisting

then danced around

him

and

yelling, striking

with switches.

smallest,

him

They

in

until midnight,

freely with their

it.

They

whooping hands and

reserved the pleasure of burn-

ing him, however, until another time.

The let.

following day he was

made

In this operation, a double

to run the gaunt-

row of men, women,

and boys extended about a quarter of a

mile, each

holding some instrument of torture, such as clubs, switches, hoe-handles,

and tomahawks.

At

the be-

ginning of the line stood two warriors with butcherknives in their hands, wliile at the end an Indian

beating a drum.

A

the council-house.

The

length of this

line,

little

be}-ond the

prisoner

is

v.-as

drum waz

forced to run

tlie

between the double row of well-

TECUMSEH.

1^

applied Indian vengeance, taking refuge in the couticil-housc.

The

race being over, a council was held to decide

the question of whether the prisoner should be im-

mediately burned or taken

and exhibited to the in a ring

tirely silent,

to the other villages

first

The

tribes.

on the

warriors sat en-

floor of the council-

house, while the vote was taken.

The manner

was

circle.

to pass a war-club

were

around the

Those who

postponing the execution were to

in favor of

who were

pass the club on in silence, while those " contrary

of this

minded

"

were to

strike

it

violently

on the

ground.

An

Indian, furnished with a knife and

wood, was appointed to count the did

by making a mark on one

piece of

This he

votes.

side of the

wood

for

those of one opinion, and on the other side for the

He

other.

quickly announced that the execution

was postponed, and that the prisoner was a

to

quired

the

be taken

of

there.

inthis

He

informed that he was to be burned.

way

an escape.

to

He

Waughcotomoco, Kenton meditated thought

if

he must burn anyway

they could do no worse to him

He

to

Kenton

when informed

what they would do with him

fiercely

On

Waughcotomoco.

the interpreter,

of

decision,

was

called

village

could not

make up

his

if

he were recaptured.

mind

to this daring act,

RUNNING THE GAUNTLET.

SIMON KENTON. until the Indians fired their

however,

of a

fled

drum

into the

far

With

ahead.

dense woods.

sued, but so swift

escaped had

it

guns and raised

which was answered by the deep

the scalp halloo, roll

77

was

a loud

crj-

Kenton

was instantly pur-

lie

his flight that

he would have

not been that he stumbled into the

midst of another war party, which had come forth fi'om the village

At

on hearing the

Tccumseh's birthplace,

village of Piqua,

this

firing.

he was again tied to the stake, the Avarriors assemAfter their debate they

bling in the council-house.

surrounded the stake, dancing and yelling

for

some

hours.

At Waughcotomoco he was once more compelled to run the gauntlet, in

He was fate

was

which he was severely

hurt.

then taken to the council-house, where his to

awaiting his

be decided. death,

He was

when

sitting dejectedly

opened, and Simon Girty, a famous outlaw joined the Indians, and excelled

appeared, along

with some

door

council-house

the

them

prisoners

who had

in savagery,

and

scalps.

Kenton was removed from the council- house, and after

some hours was taken back and informed

his fate

had been decided.

He

that

divined from the

savage scowls of the Indians on his entrance that there

was no hope

for

Girty to seat himself.

him.

He was

Kenton seems

ordered by to

have

felt

TECUMSEII.

78

somewhat stubborn about obeying

in

any hurry

this

renegade white man, but Girty violently jerked him

down.

"How many men manded " It

impossible for

is

I

me

can

and you can judge

"Do

Kentucky ?" de-

Girty.

said Kenton, " but cers,

are there in

to answer that question,"

you the number of

tell

offi-

for yourself"

you know WiUiam Stewart?" was the next

inquiry.

" Perfectly well

he

;

is

an old and intimate acquaint-

ance," answered the prisoner. "

What

"

Simon

is

As soon his feet

?

"

Butler," replied Kenton. as Girty heard the

and threw

his

name he sprang

to

arms around the neck of the

Previous to Simon Girty's desertion of the

prisoner.

whites,

your own name

they had been spies together

in

Governor

Dunmore's expedition, and Girty had formed a warm attachment for Kenton. Girty then in

made

the astonished warriors a speech

which he told them that

bosom

friend

path, slept

;

that they

his friend.

He

was

his

had traveled the same war-

upon the same

same wigwam."

their prisoner "

blanket, and dwelt in the

earnestly pleaded for the

life

of

Several of the chiefs expressed their ap-

proval by a low guttural sound.

Many

others disap-

SIMON KENTON.

79

proved, saying they would be acting like squaws to

change

their

mind every hour, recounting Kenton's

misdemeanors, and pathetically pleading the disap-

pointment of those who had come from a distance to see the burning.

Girty again urged vehemently his request, claim-

ing

own savage loyalty he had come among them.

as the reward of his

it

the Indian cause since

The debate

lasted for an

hour and a

who

Kenton,

the vote was taken.

half,

to

and then

a few hours be-

fore had been despairingly resigned to his

fate,

now

watched with the greatest excitement the war-club go around.

who

He saw

that

there were

passed the club in silence than those

the ground with

One

It

day, however,

was heard, and they were obliged to

go to the council-house heart,

struck

lived with his friend, be-

ing treated with great kindness.

war-whoop

vv'ho

it.

For three weeks Kenton

the

many more

having a great

was unusually

full,

— Kenton with dread

dislike

many

a distance being present.

to all

chiefs

and warriors from

Kenton saw

Mas an ominous look on the

in his

council-houses.

faces

that

of the

there

warriors.

Girty walked around the room offering his hand to

was received with

those present, and

it

but when Kenton

offered his

scowls.

He

it

cordiality,

was rejected with

tried six Indians in this

way and then

TECUMSEH.

%0

down

sat

in

utter

lowed, in which stern to

A

dejection.

the

warm

from

chiefs

a

debate

fol-

were

distance

and indignant, and Girty's arguments seemed

have

httic influence.

He

at last

turned to Ken-

ton. *'

Well,

The a

friend,

you must

die

!

" said he.

prisoner was then started on his journey with

halter

some

my

When

around his neck.

distance, Girty passed

they had gone

them on horseback,

ing Kenton he had friends at the next village

he hoped

tell-

whom

to influence in his favor.

Girty, however,

could do nothing, and returned to

Waughcotomoco

another way, not wishing to see his friend under the circumstances.

They passed through

the next village.

road Kenton was attacked by an Indian,

On

the

who had

been sitting on a log smoking and directing his wife in

her labor of chopping, but who, on the approach

of the prisoner, seized the ax and dealt

Kenton such

wound him severely. He was reprimanded by those Indians who accompanied Kenton, for trying to destroy their own amusement by intera blow as to

fering with their right to

They stopped the Scioto. chief,

kill

at a village

their prisoner.

on the head waters of

Here Kenton saw the celebrated Mingo

Logan.

"

Logan's form was

striking

manly, his countenance calm and noble."

and

SIMON KENTON. " Well,

very

mad

"Yes,

young man, at

sir,

you

!

these

" said

8

young men seem

Logan,

to

in correct English.

they certainly are," answered Kenton.

"Well, don't be disheartened," said Logan.

am

a great chief.

You

go

are to

speak of burning you there, but ners to-morrow to speak

The runners were Kenton was

good

Sandusky

to

will

I

for

ners returned they were closeted

M'hom Kenton saw nothing the chief gave

him

they

send two run-

you."

with kindness,

treated

;

"I

and during their absence

sent,

many

holding

When

conversations with the friendly chief.

when

be

the run-

with Logan,

until the

of

next morning,

a piece of bread, told

him

that he was to go instantly to Sandusky, and turned

on

his

heel

naturally lost

He was

and walked away. all

An

however, interceded for him

Kenton

English Indian agent, this time,

he wished to obtain information Detroit.

giving up

this,

taken to Sandusky, and was to be burned

the following morning.

at

At

hope.

for the

saying that

conmiandant

The Indians were much opposed their victim,

and

pleasant promise to return

it

him

was only with the after

he had obtained

the information that the agent got possession of ton.

At

Detroit he

Ken-

remained a prisoner, though,

kindly treated, for almost a year.

plan to escape with

to

He

two Kentuckians.

then

laid

a

They had

TECUMSEII.

82 to

pass through a hundred miles of country

with route,

hostile

but by

Indians,

and by journeying only

taking a

filled

circuitous

at night, they arrived

at Louisville after thirty days.

In this strange adventure

Simon Kenton was times,

among

the Shawnecs,

forced to run the gauntlet eight

and was three times

tied to the stake to

be

burned.

Kenton afterwards

rose to the rank of general in

the militia, and died at the age of eighty-one, in a

populous country

where he used

to

filled

with

wander

cities

and manufactories,

as a hunter

and through which he had been led captive.

and warrior, as a

doomed

CHAPTER

IX.

WAYNE'S VICTORY OVER THE INDIANS.

The

now

country was

greatly distressed

The

Indian war on the frontier.

administration of

President Washington was severely the

opposition

The

Clair.

the defeats of

for

by the

condemned by

Harmar and

treasury was so low that the

money

which had been expended on these expeditions

amount

large

for the times

Those who had any

— was

—

greatly regretted.

liking for a military

with horror upon the Indian war.

St.

life

Soldiers

have a superstitous dread of the savages.

looked

came

to

So great

indeed was this dread that bare intelligence of the

approach of Indians would throw them into a panic.

Under

these circumstances, General

was placed "

in

command

of the North-Wcstern army.

Mad Anthony Wayne,"

as

had distinguished himself by Revolutionary War,

in

Anthony Wayne

he was often his services

called,

during the

which he had fought from the

beginning to the end.

lie

was known

as " the

hero

of Stony Point," he having stormed the fort of that

name, on the Hudson.

him

Washington now selected

to retrieve the fortunes of the

United States

in

TECUMSEH.

84 Indian

her

wars,

and

upon

impressed

his

mind

"that another defeat would be inexpressibly ruinous to the reputation of the

The

placed under

troops

new and

government."

Wayne were

General

Without

undisciplined.

^

sufficient aid,

and

with the greatest labor, he set out to instruct them

and

in military discipline,

them

to practice

especially

shooting at a target, knowing that marksmanship

in

was of the very

He

first

importance

stimulated their emulation

be contended

Indian warfare.

in

by

offering prizes to

He was

for in these rifle matches.

also

very careful to keep whisky, which he called "ardent poison," out of the reach of his camp.

In time they gave their

by

their progress,

were

impatient to

This was

not

yet

ing anxious to

commander much

and the general and be engaged permitted,

make peace

if

active

in

the

eral

overtures for peace were

Wayne, but

successes;

held

the Indians, elated

by the

Canada and

in

sei"vice.

and feeling defeat.

made through Gen-

and encouraged by the

authorities in

army

government be-

possible,

very cautious about risking another great

Many

pleasure

his

by

their brilliant

half-hostile English

the Western posts yet

British, rejected all advances.

Among other forts built by Wayne, on the spot of General Fort Recovery.

one was erected

St. Clair's defeat,

and named

WAYNE'S VICTORY. This

fort Avas attacked in the

body of Indians

large

more than

fifteen

body

summer

of 1794

by a

of various tribes, estimated at

One

hundred.

attack was Tecumseh.

this

85

of ninety riflemen and

of the Sliawnccs in

The savages

assailed a

dragoons,

who were

fifty

starting on their return after having escorted a large

amount of ensued,

in

supplies to the

An

exciting battle

officers

and men were

fort.

which many of the

be

killed before the retreat into the fort could ed.

After the troops had reached the

cers

were given up

for dead,

fort,

effect-

two

offi-

when they were

seen

running from different directions, hotly pursued by the Indians, and notwithstanding the

emy they

reached the

fort in

safety.

fire

of the en-

One

of

them

had escaped by knocking down an Indian who had captured him.

The savages continued the attack for the remainder of the day, losing many of their number by the artillery fire

from the

fort.

carried off their dead

the

exception of a few

by

During the night they the light of torches,

which were too near the

whh fort

be reached.

to

The

attack was resumed the following morning,

but resulted

in the final rout of the Indians.

Wayne had for

called

upon

tlie

governor of Kentucky

two thousand mounted volunteers.

they arrived, under the

command

In Jul}-, 1794,

of Major- General

TECUMSEII.

86 General

Scott.

Wayne now made

demonstrations

which led the enemy to believe that he intended to

moved sud-

attack the villages on the Miami, but he

denly and rapidly into the very heart of the Indian settlements on the

Grand

These lay almost

Glaize.

under the very guns of one of the frontier

by

held

"

We

:

have gained possession of the grand empo-

rium of the

hostile

Indians in the

West without

The very extensive and and gardens show the v/ork

of blood. fields

The margins the

yet

Full of exultation, the gen-

British troops.

wrote

eral

forts

tinued village for a

fields of

Au

hands.

corn

in

Glaize, appear like one con-

number

nor have

;

many

of

of those beautiful rivers, the Miamis of

Lake and the

this place

loss

highly-cultivated

of miles above and below

ever beheld such immense

I

any part of America from Canada

to Florida."

Here

—

State of Ohio

Defiance.

—Wayne

He

" But should

upon

their

war be

own

heads.

insulted with impunity.

God

I

The

built

generously

peace to the Indians.

therefore

now the and named it

part of what

the western

in

a

fort,

is

made one more

In writing of their

choice,

America

To an

this,

that

shall

offer of

he adds blood be

no longer be

all-powerful and just

commit myself and

gallant army."

Indians, assembled in great force, held a coun-

WAYNE'S VICTORY. cil,

Z'J

composed of Miami, Pottawatomie, Delaware,

Shawnee, Chippewa, Ottawa, and Seneca

was proposed

ment -that

The

This was decided

in

the negative.

plan of meeting him next day in battle was then

The Miami

discussed.

opposed "

It

General Wayne's encamp-

to attacic

night.

chiefs.

We

and favored peace.

to this,

have beaten the enemy twice under

commanders,"

said

"

he.

same good fortune always cans are

was much

chief. Little Turtle,

now

by

led

Wc

different

cannot expect the

The Ameriwho never sleeps. The

to attend us.

a chief

night and the day are alike to him

and during

;

all

the time that he has been marching upon our villages,

notwithstanding the watchfulness of our young

men, we have never been able

Think well of it

There

it.

would be prudent

The Shawnee

command strongly

him.

surprise

something whispers me,

listen to his offers

chief Blue Jacket,

of the in

to

is

to

of peace."

who had

entire

Indians in the ensuing battle, was

favor

of giving battle.

His

influence

prevailed over the wiser advice of Little Turtle.

the morning General

Wayne

whether the Indians intended of his

dians

In

advanced, not yet sure to fight or not.

A

body

men were soon fired on, however, by the Inwho were secreted in the woods and tall grass.

Tecumseh, already distinguished party of Shawnees.

At

as a brave, led a

the beginning of the action

TECUMSEH.

S8

he and two of his brothers were

Wayne

in the

advance guard.

found the ground covered with

probably the result of a tornado. ularly favorable to the Indian

fallen trees,

This was partic-

mode

of fighting.

Wayne's own account of the

In General

battle,

says that the Indians " were formed in three

he

lines,

within supporting distance of each other, and extend-

ing nearly two miles, at right angles with the river."

He the

adds

ite

"

soon discovered from the weight of

I

and the extent of

fire,

were

:

their lines, that the

ground, and endeavoring to turn our

therefore gave orders for the second to support the to gain

first,

At

route.

the

advance with

I

advance

and directed Major-General Scott

mounted

volunteers,

same time

I

up, to deliver a close

their backs, followed

by

give time to load again.

by a

circuitous

ordered the front line to

and

trailed arms,

to rouse the Indians

their coverts, at the point of the

when

left flank.

line in

and turn the right flank of the savages, with

the whole of the

from

enemy

in full force in front, in possession of their favor-

bayonet

and well-directed

;

and,

fire

on

a brisk charge, so as not to I

also ordered Captain

Mis

who commanded the legionary cavalry, to left flank of the enemy next the river, and

Campbell, turn the

which afforded a favorable ground act

in.

All

promptitude

tliese ;

for that corps to

orders were obeyed with

spirit

and

but such was the impetuosity of the

WAYNE'S VICTORY. charge by the

first

and Canadian

militia

Hnc of nifantry, that the Indians

and volunteers were driven from

their coverts in so

all

89

short a time, that although

every exertion was used by the ofhcers of the second the legion, and

line of

by Generals

mounted

Barbee, of the

Todd, and

Scott,

gain

volunteers, to

their

proper positions, yet but a part of them could get up season to participate in the action

in

being driven,

two

in

more than

through the thick woods, by

miles,

enemy

the

;

the course of one hour,

less

than

some

lime,

one-half their numbers."

During

when

in

loading his

powder and thus the

Tecumseh fought

this battle

rifle

which pressed him

whom

to

in

he met

party until

he put a bullet

lost the use of his

same time forced

for

retreat

in

gun.

before the lie

by some

at

infantry

This he did with his

front.

another company of

he urged to stand

was

flist,

saying

if

Indians,

any one

would lend him a gun he would show them how to

do

it.

With

a fowling-piece which

him he fought a give ground. a party of

make ed

while, until

compelled

again

Shawnccs

whom

close

and

fired

he

rallied

and induced to

When

the infantry press-

their

muskets

bushes, Tecumseh's party returned the retreated

to

to

This time, while falling back, he met

a stand in a thicket.

them

was handed

the

main

force

of

the

fire,

into

the

and then

Indians.

A

TECUMSEH.

90

brother of Tecumseh's, warrior,

was

killed

named Sauwaseekau,

during the day.

In this famous battle

Tecumsch was

for the first

time opposed to William Henry Harrison, afterward to

a brave

become

who was Harrison

his chief antagonist.

was then a young man of about Tecumseh's own age.

Neither of them had any part

in the

the battle, but both acted their parts well.

mense destruction of Indian

villages

followed the victory of General

and

Wayne.

plan of

An

im-

corn-fields

CHAPTER

X.

THE PEACE AT GREENVILLE— CLUE Fort Miami,

JACKPLT.

the British fort which stood in the

midst of these Indian villages, was a great provocation to the

American of an

the presence

troops,

who knew

English force was

General

chief causes of trouble.

well that

one

of the

Wayne made

connoissance in force under the very walls of the

and the English their

men from

officers

firing

with

on him.

difficulty

a refort,

restrained

Some angry

corre-

spondence ensued between the two commanders, but "

Mad Anthony Wayne

self-control,

"

and he could

was a man of coolness and that

easily see

wise to plunge the infant nation into the mother country. age, there can be

little

this

to

was not

a new war with

And, notwithstanding

his cour-

doubt that the powerful arma-

ment of Fort Miami helped him

To have

in the matter.

it

to a

prudent decision

assailed so strong a

work

as

with the means at his disposal, would have been

have risked

all

the fruits of his victory in a

most

desperate venture.

The Indians were beaten and anxious In

October,

Blue Jacket,

for peace.

the Shawnee, headed

a

TECUMSEir.

92 deputation of to General

chiefs, for the

Wayne.

purpose of bearing a flag

EngHsh agents intercepted

this

flag by inviting the chiefs of the combined army to meet them at the mouth of the Detroit River. Here

they were urged to remain

"Children: Ohio the

United

in hostihty to the

In a speech to them, Governor Simcoe said

States.

is

I

am

your right and

stiU of the I

title.

commandant of Fort Miami

:

opinion that the

have given orders to to fire

on the Amer-

icans

whenever they make

I will

go down to Quebec, and lay your grievances

before the great men.

warded will

to the King,

know

their appearance

From your

again.

thence they will be for-

father.

the result of everything

Next spring you what you and

I

will do."

The English in Canada did not know at what moment hostilities might break out again between England and the United States, and they succeeded by such persuasions

in

delaying the conclusion of peace

between the Indians and the Americans.

During the following

winter, however, parties of

Wyandots, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawatomies, Miamis, Delawares, and Shawnees visited

Sacs,

General

Wayne's headquarters, where they signed preliminary treaties of peace, agreeing to ville in

June, with

all

their

meet Wayne

at

Green-

sachems and war-chiefs,

to conclude a definite treaty of peace.

THE PEACE AT GREENVILLE.

93

This treaty of Greenville was of the greatest im-

By

portance to the Western country.

it

the Indians

relinquished large bodies of lands for settlement, and

the peace there established continued so long as the

memory

of Wayne's victory remained fresh in the

During the eighteen years of

minds of the savages.

peace which followed, the Western settlements were so firmly established that, on the rise of

Tccumseh and the Prophet,

position under

beyond the reach of check

for

tlie

the

possibility for

it

new op-

was quite

Indians to

any considerable time the rapid develop-

Tecumseh

ment of the West. treaty of Greenville tlements, and

;

it

heartily hated this

had given repose

had confirmed the

to the set-

of the whites to

title

the land on which new and powerful communities

had grown up.

The in

this

principal speaker on behalf of the

council

was the famous

had commanded the Indian

met Wayne

at Greenville

tardiness in not

joint

on

commander with

St. Clair.

When

he made apologies

coming sooner,

as he

he

for his

had promised,

and gave the most solemn assurance of

We

who

forces in the battle with

Wayne, and who had been a Little Turtle in the attack

Shawnees

Blue Jacket,

his sincerity.

get a curious glimpse of the relations subsisting

between the various

Indian

nations

on the second day of the council

in :

his

speech

" Brothers,

T

TECUMSEH.

94 you

hope seat

in

Wyandots

not

will

this

take

arc our

amiss

You

council.

my

Shawnces

brothers of the other nations present. I

should

next

sit

my the

that

and the Delawares our

uncles,

grandfathers, and that the

proper that

changing

know

all

my

elder

are the It is

therefore

grandfathers and

uncles."

This tribes

fictitious is

actions

among

relationship

between the various

often alluded to in the Indian trans-

quite

themselves.

At

the close of the coun-

Blue Jacket made another speech that brings out

cil

the temporary character of the authority of a war-

He began

chief

brothers present,

:

Elder brother, and you

lay

down

place myself in the rear of for the future will

all

his

my

village chiefs,

and

who

protestations of peaceful

intentions for the rest of his

the troubles fomented is

that commission,

command me."

Notwithstanding

There

my

you see me now present myself

a war- chief to

as

"

life,

he appears again

in

by Tecumseh.

a curious story that illustrates his duplic-

ity.

In the year 1800, he agreed to show to a com-

pany

a valuable

tucky River. did his

mine on the head waters of the KenBut ever

as

their eagerness increased

demands become more

was durin»

all

exorbitant.

As he

these negotiations boardincr at the ex-

pense of the company, he did not seem to be

in

any

ELUE JACKET. hurry to conclude them.

was made, and the delivered,

them.

and

him were escorted

their

bargain

and money were

in

who was

great state to

and children accompanying

their wives

They were

all

at length the

horses, goods,

Blue Jacket and another chief

associated with

Kentucky,

When

95

treated in the most flattering way,

wants were anticipated.

When

they

reached the region of the fabled mine, traveling with great secrecy, he spent

some time

humbling himself with

fasting

in

"pow-wow-ing,"

and prayer,

to get per-

mission from the Great Spirit to reveal the location of this secret wealth.

He

got but a doubtful answer

many days of fruitless search He laid the blame on his eyes, which he said were dimmed by age. He promised on his return home to send his son, who was young, and who knew the exact spot, and would in his

dreams, and after

the mine could not be found.

disclose

it

to the

company.

But the son came

not,

and the great Blue Jacket Mining Company never found

its

mine.

CHAPTER XL DEATH OF WAWILLAWAY — TECUMSEH AS A PEACE- MAKER.

We

again find

Tccumsch engaged

the spring of 1795, on Deer Creek.

he carried on It

is

more

as

hunting, in

in

This occupation

pastime

than as business.

said of him, on the authority of those captives

and half-breeds who knew him

he was not

well, that

avaricious, but that his generosity was proverbial.

The

furs that

he caught or the goods acquired by ex-

change were dispensed with a bountiful hand.

He

did not hunt for the purpose of bettering his fortunes,

but from love for

it

as a

manly and

soldierly

employ-

ment, and as a means of furnishing food to those

who were doubt

this

not able

popularity he

encamped several

to

hunt

themselves.

for

No

generous temper had much to do with the acquired

among

While

his people.

on Deer Creek, one of his brothers and

other

young Shawnees proposed

Tccumseh that they could each three days as he could.

kill

as

to

many

wager deer in

This wager was probably

the result of that vain boasting to which the Indians are greatly addicted, and which

is

not

uncommon

DEATH OF WAWILLAWAY. among

hunters of

challenge, and they

time

the

Tccnmsch accepted

kinds.

all

all

had expired, they

returned

all

The

than

twelve

Tccumseh returned

this

time he was gener-

ally confessed the greatest hunter

Wayne's was

finally

them more

while

From

with about thirty.

with the

what success they

challengers had none of

deer-skins,

the

When

repah-ed to the woods.

skins of the deer in evidence of

had had.

9/

in his nation.

treaty with the Indians of the North- West

concluded

The Indians ceded

at Greenville, in

August, 1795.

time to the whites a large

at this

tract of land in consideration of annuities.

During the summer of 1795,

body of Indian lands was exchange

in

finally

for annuities,

which a large

Tecumseh began

a new band of his own and

He

in

ceded to the whites

Wayne's council

did not attend

Greenville,

at

though he was certainly considered a man of ence

and importance

his

in

treaty Blue Jacket visited told

form

to

to call himself a chief.

nation,

influ-

for after

this

him on Deer Creek and

him the terms on which peace had been made.

In the spring of

moved

1

to the Great

796,

Tecumseh and

Miami.

ed a crop of corn, moving the next

branches of the spring and of corn.

White

summer In 1798,

his followers

In this place foil

Water, where,

they

to the

rais-

upper

during the

of 1797, they raised another crop

Tecumseh received an 5

invitation

TECUMSEH.

98

from the Delawares, part of

White River their

whom

up

Indiana, to take

in

were residing on his quarters in

This invitation was accepted,

neighborhood.

and, hke roving Shawnees that they were, the band

moved ed

Here on the White River he remain-

again.

for several years peacefully occupied in hunting.

During ence

this

time he was steadily extending his influ-

among

band of

difficulties

had grown up between the In-

Mad

on

dians and the settlers

In

River.

1799, a

was held by them near the place where

Urbana now

Shawnee

Tecumseh, who with other

stands.

chiefs

attended

kave been the principal

much admired Dechouset,

council,

this

orator,

and

eloquence.

for its

said " that he found

translate the lofty flights of

was

to his

followers.

Some council

and adding

the different tribes,

which was

The Indian eloquence

is

markable, especially for

to

The

interpreter,

very

difficult to

Shawnee language

his

mother tongue."

often very striking

its

said

speech was

Tecumseh, although he

as well acquainted with the

as with the French,

it

is

his

and

re-

poetical element, which

is

well suited to " children of nature," as they are styled.

Single sentences in

the

speeches of Indian orators

often sparkle like gems, as for instance the saying of

a

Winnebago

chief,

portraying

the wrongs of

his

people in an address to a government commissioner.

DEATH OF WAWILLAWAY. "The very

leaves

tears of pity

on us as we walk beneath."

99

"drop

of the forest," he cried,

In 1803, the inhabitants of the Scioto Valley

thrown into a panic whicli quence

to

settlers, a

Captain Herrod, one of the

allay.

man

who had no lieved

confidence

by some

to

Indian

to

fidelity it

the

was be-

a grudge against the murdered inhabitants of the Scioto Val-

however, residing

moved

in

have been the deed of a certain

The

Captain Herrod. ley,

This event put the whites,

great consternation, though

man who had

white

first

greatly beloved, was found dead and

scalped in the woods.

treaty, into

were

took Tccumsch's elo-

it

together, and in

five

and

many

fifteen

miles apart,

instances built block-

houses for protection, while the citizens of Chillicothe collected for the purpose of fortifying the town.

A

wicked and wanton

retaliation,

some white men, greatly increased willaway, a of the

Shawnee

whites,

game and

habits, brave

the panic.

Wa-

chief and an unwavering friend

was one day returning from Old

Town, where he had been off his

attempted by

and

skins.

for the

purpose of trading

He was

an Indian of sober

intelligent,

and well-known among

the whites.

He was met tler

in

appropriately

Wolf had

the

trail

by an

old hunter and set-

named Wolf and two men whom

hired to po with

him

to his farm.

Wawil-

TECUMSEH.

lOO

laway shook hands with them after their health

then proposed

and that of

cordially,

and asked

their families.

Wolf

exchange guns with the Indian.

to

While they were examining each

other's guns with

reference to an exchange, he secretly took the prim-

ing from that of the chief and returned

would not

trade.

saying he

it,

The white men then asked

if

the

Indians had begun war. "

"

said

are

now

No, no

white

men

!

Wolf asked him had

On

all if

Captain

killed

much

Wawillaway, " the Indians and one

—

all

brothers."

he had heard that the Indians Herrod.

Wawillaway seemed

surprised at this story, and doubted

being assured, however, that

was

it

its

truth.

true,

he

said,

"

May

be whisky, too much drink, was the cause

of the quarrel." " it

Herrod had no quarrel with the Indians, nor

known by whom he was "

May

killed," said

be some bad white

all

kill

Captain Her-

Wawillaway now shook

rod," suggested the Indian.

hands

man

is

Wolf

round and turned to go, when he was shot

from behind and mortally wounded by the dastardly

assailants,

The brave Shawnee turned upon his killed one of them, and wounded Wolf and

the other

man

white man.

severely before he died.

occurrence became

known

it

greatly

When

this

augmented the

DEATH OF WAWILLAWAY.

DEATH OF WAWILLAWAY. excitement.

The whites

lOI

one direction, and

fled in

the Indians, equally alarmed, in another.

In consequence of this distressing excitement

prominent

citizens

Greenville.

some

rode into the Indian country near

Here they found a

large

A

and among them Tecumseh.

body of

council

Indians,

was held

with these Indians, and the whites frankly related the circumstances connected with the death of

knowledge of these

at

with the white tions

in

things,

by the

A

agreed to return

On

this chief

white man,

their inten-

had been made

these peaceful declara-

settlers.

day was appointed when

among

at last

men and make

person to the

the people.

and declared

treaty which

Tecumseh

that place.

Herrod

The Indians denied having any

and Wawillaway.

tion of standing

all

their arrival, a

should address

who had been

An

the Indians, acted as interpreter.

mense throng gathered

to hear

all

a prisoner

im-

Tecumsch's speech,

which was, even when translated,

full

of telling and

eloquent passages.

He

spoke

in the strongest

relations existing

language of the friendly

between the Indians and their white

brethren, and of the determination

Indians to abide that

it

by

would be kept

that brotherly love

on the part of the

He hoped

this treaty forever.

inviolate

would be

time between the white

by both

as long

man and

parties,

and

and

lasting as

the Indian.

When

TECUMSEH.

T02

Tccumseh

closed, the

sachems shook hands to ex-

press the friendship and fellowship existing between

After this speech of Tecumseh,

the two people.

whose

tall,

impressed

commanding' figure and noble dignity

who saw

all

him, the people returned con-

tented to their quiet homes.

It

seems a pity that

Tecumseh should ever have held other views about the treaty at

Greenville,

than

those

expressed in

Chillicothe. It

the right and duty of the nearest of kin

is

among

the Indians, to

kill

ative, unless

he purchase

upon by the

family.

the m.urderer of his

life

tlieir rel-

at a price agreed

The two sons of Wawillaway He, vowed vengeance upon Wolf. however, moved to Kentucky, and employed an had

therefore

agent to make terms with the young men.

This jj

agent finally agreed to furnish each son with a horse, a new saddle and

on their

part,

bridle,

and a new

rifle,

and they,

though not without much debate and

agreed to bury the tomahawk and make

hesitation,

peace with the murderer and

his family forever.

At

the time fixed for the fulfillment of this con-

tract,

a large gathering of people assembled at Old

Town ley, at

to see the Indian ceremonies.

Rev.

J.

B. Fin-

one time an Indian missionary, thus describes

the scene

:

"A

were Wolf and

hollow square was formed,

his horses

in

which

and trappings and the two

i

i|

|

DEATH OF WAWILLAWAY. The

young men. claim to the

life

Indians,

in

relinquishing their

of the murderer, raised their hands

toward heaven invoking the Great

Him

that to

by

the death of their father.

full

father to the grave

him

and made them orphans.

smoked with him

of the

Great

During to

this

in

Then

the pres-

They remained

Spirit.

friends ever afterward,

Ohio

their beloved

as a brother, they lighted the calumet,

or pipe of peace, and

ence

and took Wolf by the hand

same bloody hand which sent

saluting

The

In token of their for-

to tears.

giveness, they advanced

the

life

of the most impressive solemnity, and

many were moved

—

Spirit, declaring

alone they transferred the blood and

of Wolf, forfeited

scene was

IO3

good

visited each other."

and often

year a stalwart Kentuckian came to

explore

the

lands

on

]\Iad

River.

He

stopped over night at the house of Captain Abner Barrett, living

He was

on the head waters of Buck Creek.

evidently startled to hear that there were

Indians encamped in the immediate neighborhood.

Soon

after

learning

this,

the door of the dwelling

was suddenly opened and the noble form of Tecumseh appeared.

He walked

dignity and looked around

soon

lit

in

with his usual stately

him

in silence.

upon the alarmed Kentuckian,

ing the greatest agitation.

His eye

who was show-

Tecumseh regarded him

a moment, and then turning to Barrett exclaimed,

TECUMSEH.

104 "

A

big baby

!

a big baby

to the frightened fellow

" !

He

then walked up

and patting him gently on

the shoulder repeated contemptuously, " Big baby !

big baby " increasing the alarm of the poor man, to the great

amusement of those

present.

CHAPTER THE

RISE OF

The immense

THE PROPHET.

tract of land

Mississippi rivers,

now

XII.

between the Ohio and

divided into

many

states,

con-

In

1801,

Northwestern Territory.

stituted the old

the State of Ohio was formed out of

this,

and the

Of

remainder was called the Indiana Territory.

William

territory

in the territory, first

appointed

There were then but three settlements

governor.

The

Henry Harrison was

this

and these were widely separated.

was on a grant of one hundred and

fifty

thousand acres at the Falls of the Ohio, made to General George Rogers

Clark's

troops

successful

the second, the old French settlement at Vincenncs,

and the

third, the old settlement

and Cahokia on the

between Kaskaskia

Mississippi.

The whole

of this

vast territory then contained but five thousand people. first

Tecumsch's brother, the Prophet, now

parts of his is

The

time comes into notice. life

were passed

only prominent during

prophet served scheme.

to

for the

and

in entire obscurity.

latter

He

the time his notoriety as a

further

The Prophet

earlier

is

5*

Tecumseh's ambitious

called

by many

different

TECUMSEH.

I06

names, or modifications of the same name.

His

Loud

Voice,

name was Laulewasikaw,

earlier

or the

possibly in reference to his self-assertion and boastfulness, as

Long

much

as to his really stentorian voice.

before he divulged

cumseh may have meditated

men

the red

to his followers,

it

his plan

for

Te-

gathering

into a great confederacy, driving

the

whites back across the Ohio, or at least arresting their further progress, and thus preventing that extinction

of the Indian race which he so shall

we regard him

ambition success

dreaded.

Or,

an ambitious leader whose

as

grew with

much

his

increasing

influence

and

?

In 1805, a part of the Shawnees were living at the

Tawa

villages,

Wishing

head of the Auglaize River.

at the

to unite their scattered nation,

they sent a

deputation to Tecumseh's party on White River, and to another party of

inviting

them

to

Shawnees on the Mississinnewa,

move

join their brethren.

to the

Tawa towns and

vited resolved to accept the invitation.

mediately set out ville

there

Both of the companies thus

for the

Tawa

villages,

in-

They im-

but at Green-

the two parties met, and through

Laulewasi-

kaw's influence they decided to remain at that place. It

seems

wasikaw

number

likely that

Tecumseh was behind Laule-

in this, seeing in

of his followers.

it

a chance to increase the

Laulewasikaw impressed

THE RISE OF THE PROPHET. who knew him

all

with his craftiness

;

10/

Tecumseh's

shrewdness must have been of a much deeper and

more

far-seeing kind, and

it

was hidden under a

noble dignity and reserve.

About

by

time there died an old Shawnee Indian

this

name

the

Feathers, "

of Penagashega, or The-Change-of-

who had

for

some years been engaged

the respectable calling of a prophet"

kaw,

who had

seen the old prophet's influence with

the Indians for

some

time,

now began

himself to re-

ceive communications from the Great Spirit,

nounced himself a prophet Change-of- Feathers-

name,

that

in

Laulewasi-

in

and an-

place of the departed

Prophet-wise, he assumed a

of Tenskwatawa, which signifies

Open Door." This name of deliverance to

his,

new

"The

pointed him out as a means

people, and indicated the

new

way he undertook to show forth in his teachings. The Prophet is not an uncommon institution among the Indians. Every body of Indians has its medicine-man.

somewhat higher than the man, who exorcist,

is

however, seems

Prophecy,

to

be

calling of the medicine-

a sort of juggler, superstition-monger,

and curer of diseases by means of " pow-

wows," mysterious incantations, and solemn humbuggery.

A

prophet adds to

a seer and a moral- reformer

We

this the character of

among

his people.

have already mentioned that more than a cen-

TECUMSEII.

Io8

the times of

tiny before

Tccumseh

Conestoga, part of

whom

them a venerable

prophetess,

them

During

Soangageshick,

took with

they paid

Schoolcraft's residence

the Chippewas, he found the or "

Indians at

whom they and to whom

their councils,

to all

great respect.

the

were Shawnecs, had among

widow of a man named

Strong Sky,"

who

followed the

The

profession of prophetess, or jossakeed.

keed enters a lodge which

is

among

jossa-

closed up, and from this

utters oracular things, like an ancient pythoness or a

modern " trance-medium."

Of another

Schoolcraft says that he was " a

tall,

prophet,

not portly, red-

mouthed and pucker-mouthed man, with an unusual amount of cunning and jossakeed or seer."

ham Young, and

and exercising an

and reputation

This man, Hke

Mohammed,

The

better

rolls

sea-shell.

intricate,

The white

smeared with white black surface.

I

Brig-

seer's

his

lodge,

of bark carefully and skillfully

and stained black

which was

as a

im.press

to

he " had an elaborately-built

sheathed with united,

his skill

other prophets, practiced polygamy,

having three wives. clients,

sagacity,

by

unlimited popularity

inside.

resembled

Its

the

construction,

whorls

prints of a man's clay,

of a

hand, as

if

were impressed on the

have never witnessed so complete a

piece of Indian architectural structure, nor one

worthy of the name of a temple of darkness."

more

THE RISE OF THE PROPHET. That the curious reader seer's office

was

may

understand what the

at the time of the setting

may

109

up of

"

The

how far the office of prophet was modified by him, we give another inHe stance. One Rue was made captive in 1781. Open Door," and

was

and meditating plans of

Detroit,

at

see

During the drunken

escape.

revels of the tribes gathered at

the trading-house there, an Indian lost a purse con-

Great excitement

taining ninety dollars in silver.

ensued

;

there were

many

among them, and

tions

accusations and recrimina-

the tribes

became

so far exas-

perated toward each other as to threaten the use of

when

knives and tomahawks,

made to

that there

the announcement was

was a prophet present who belonged

none of the bands engaged

in the

was immediately established, while

wrangle.

this

Order

prophet un-

Very

dertook to detect the thief by conjuration.

solemnly he unrolled a deer-skin, which he spread

upon the ground with the emptied upon

drew from this

it

a

his belt.

little

bag of

With

smoothly upon the

flesh side up.

a

skin.

fine

He

then

sand which he

magic wand he spread

The crowd were now The prophet faces.

watching with eager, awe-struck

gazed steadily

at

the sand for several moments, and

then muttered some inarticulate words. other long look, he exclaimed: the stolen treasure."

"

I

Taking an-

see the thief

The prophet was pressed

to

and tell

no

TECUMSEH,

who

the culprit was, but this he benevolently refused

to do, declaring that he feared that the information

would lead

to the extermination of

before the matter ended.

disastrous as

might produce

He

he foresaw.

was a member of a

harmony among panions

now

Rue and

com-

his

resolved to question the fortune-teller

and,

private,

but

em-

thus shrewdly restored

the Indians.

They

regarding their friends at home. in

guilty,

other than those

tribe

He

broiled in the quarrel.

results so

however, that

said,

none of those who had been accused were it

tribes

was very improper, he

It

said, to divulge a fact that

one or more

paying the

around the deer-skin.

fee,

After

seated

a

visited

him

themselves

long silence

the

prophet announced that he saw Rue's family passing

through the door-yard, and gave their number, sex,

and appearance so well

age,

him a

lieve

"

effect

eyes. "

it

intend to

to be-

will

make your

escape, and

you

soon," said the soothsayer, raising his

Looking again

You

Rue

real wizard.

You two

will

as to incline

into the

meet many

trials

sandy

future,

and hardships

he

said,

in pass-

ing over so wild a district of country, inhabited by so

many

hostile nations of Indians.

starve to death, but about the time

up

all

hope of finding game

famished .condition, succor

You

almost

you have given

to sustain

will

will

you

in

come when you

your least

THE RISE OF THE PROPHET. expect

I

it.

what

;

plenty

of

game, and

it is

can't clearly see.

I

After that you will find

be of the male sex.

It will

some wild

see dimly the carcass of

animal taken as game

1 1 I

arrive

will

safely

at

your

homes."

These things are

have indeed happened

said to

to

the fugitive captives pretty nearly according to the Indian's prophecy.

But Laulewasikaw took hints from the missionaries,

did not mutter from a darkened lodge, nor

He was

tunes with sand.

Shawnee prophet gath-

ered together quite an assembly of his

many Wyandots,

Ottawas, and

Wapakonetta, on the Auglaize River, Ohio, where he

new

made them

own

nation,

Senecas, in

at

Northern

a speech declaring his

In this address he harangued against

vocation.

witchcraft, a thing

He

Indians.

tell for-

a preaching prophet.

In November, 1805, our

with

He

and got many things from the Shakers.

said

very much that

believed in

those

all

who

by

the

practiced

it

or remained bewitched would not go to heaven or see the Great Spirit.

ness most vehemently.

become and the

He next denounced drunkenHe said that since he had

a prophet he had gone first

the Devil.

place he

Here he saw

with flames of

fire

came all

issuing

to

up

into the clouds,

was the dwelling of

who had

died drunkards,

from their mouths.

He

TECUMSEH.

112

admitted that previous to

this

he had himself been a

drunkard, but his vision had frightened him so that

He

he drank no more.

then preached with a good

deal of earnestness against Indian

women

intermarry-

ing with the whites, saying this was one of the causes

He

of their unhappiness.

property

proposed community of

—an adjustment of things which would

have suited that which

He

this indolent reformer.

Tecumseh

duty of the young

tions in the dress

preached

so constantly practiced

at all times

ishing the aged and

also

infirm.

well

— the

supporting and cher-

He denounced

innova-

and habits of the red man, and

appealed to their national pride by boasting of the superiority of the

Shawnees over any other

He

those

promised

obey

his

to

injunctions

all

who would

follow

nation.

him and

the comfort and happiness

enjoyed by their ancestors before the advent of the whites

among

them.

He

closed

by announcing the

power which had been given him by the Great to confound his enemies, to cure

all

diseases,

Spirit

and to

prevent death either from sickness or on the battlefield.

From

this

opening speech we can judge of the

nature of his teachings. trines

We

can see that his doc-

were many of them wild and

fanatical,

while

the denunciations of drunkenness and of the assumption

of the habits and dress of the whites

by

the

THE RISE OF THE PROPHET. Indians agreed with the well

The

cumseh.

shown

his

in

said to

and though

;

manner was more

a

better face

his

not attractive,

in his portrait is certainly

any other Indian.

mind

to excite the superstitious

The Prophet was even

savage.

said that his

He of

qualities

graceful than that of

Without Tecumseh's

dignity, he

certainly possessed his

His

brother.

was neither courageous,

main

characteristics

is

truthful,

He

nor above cruelty.

however, very probable that he believed even

more firmly

As

is

none of the noble

were cunning and a certain showy smartness.

is,

as it is

have possessed more persuasion and plausi-

bility.

It

is

claims to supernatural power, which

speaker than his brother

shown

opinions of Te-

natural boastfuhicss of the Prophet

were well calculated of the

known

II3

in

himself than did any of his followers.

often the case with impostors, he

ceeded

in

may have

suc-

deceiving himself more completely even

Some

of his preaching

shows the influence of the white

man's opinions

than he deceived his fellows.

upon him.

believed that he picked up

It is

scraps of his system from the Shakers, their advent into

Ohio

of Laule-

close of his administration, to his

after the

predecessor, ex-President

Wabash Prophet

who made

at this time.

President Jefferson wrote his opinion

wasikaw

some

is

Adams.

He

more rogue than

said

:

"

fool, if to

The be a

1

TECUMSEH.

1

rogue

is

not the greatest of

notice while

was

I

all

rose to

and became,

The

inquiry was

of course, a proper subject for me.

made

He

follies.

in the administration,

with diligence.

His declared object was the

reformation of his red brethren, and their return to their pristine in constant

manners of

He

living.

pretended to be

communication with the Great

he was instructed by

Him

Spirit

make known

to

by Him

dians that they were created

that

;

to the In-

distinct

from

the whites, of different natures, for different purposes,

and placed under

different circumstances,

their nature

and

from

ways of the whites

all

the

destinies

opinions of their forefathers

adapted to

they must return

that

;

and

to the habits

they must not eat the

;

and

flesh of hogs, of bullocks, of sheep, &c., the deer

the buffalo having been created for their food

;

they

must not make bread of wheat, but of Indian corn

;

they must not wear linen nor woollen, but must dress like their fathers, in

the skins and furs of animals

they must not drink ardent

spirits

member whether he extended gun and gunpowder, I

concluded from

enveloped to lead

all

in favor of the

this

that he

in their antiquities,

back

;

and

I

do not

re-

his inhibitions to the

bow and was a

arrow.

visionary,

and vainly endeavoring

his brethren to the fancied beatitudes of

their golden age.

of his making

I

many

thought there was

little

danger

proselytes from the habits and

THE RISE OF THE PROPHET.

I

i

5

comforts they had learned from the whites, to the hardships and privations of savagism, and no great

harm

if

British

he

But

did.

his followers increased until the

thought him worth corrupting, and found him

corruptible.

I

suppose his views were then changed

but his proceedings

in

consequence of them were

and are therefore un-

after I left the administration,

known

to

me

;

nor have

were the particular

acts

I

on

ever been informed what his part

an actual commencement of

which produced

hostilities

on

ours.

I

have no doubt, however, that the subsequent proceedings are but a chapter apart, like that of

and Lord Liverpool,

in

Henry

book of the Kings of

the

England."

There can be no doubt that the Prophet

With

sought the good of his people. deception,

superstition,

and

craft,

all

really

his vanity,

he no doubt be-

lieved in the beneficial tendency of the measures he

advocated. that he

This

is

quite consistent with the opinion

had ambitious projects

acter of a prophet,

in

assuming the char-

and that Tecumseh's gradually

developing schemes had

much

to

do with the Proph-

et's plans.

His influence soon began to show

young men and persons of

Many whom were

itself

followers gathered around him, most of

wild

and adventurous

tendencies from the various tribes.

It is stated that

1

TECUMSEH.

16

they entirely abstained from strong drink, and

many

in

other ways practiced their leader's precepts.

Opposition was naturally made to the innovations of the

new prophet by

the neighboring chiefs,

that he sought to undermine their power.

who

felt

An

in-

was now introduced by Tenskwatawa.

quisition

A

course of fanatical persecution for witchcraft was be-

gun, shocking indeed

only too Salem,

in

The if

in its cruelty

and

injustice,

but

much resembling something which occurred among people of our own enlightened race. was so great that

superstition of the Indians

some

the Prophet denounced

chief

who opposed

him, as a witch, a loss of reputation and perhaps of life

Several Delawares were

ensued.

An

among

the

first

woman was burned to death, being called upon many times by the Indians to give up As she was dying, her charm and medicine bag. victims.

old

she exclaimed that her grandson ing had

it

He was

camp.

He

confessed

pursued, that

charm, and by means of air,

it

who was

tied,

out hunt-

and brought into

he had borrowed the

had flown through the

over Kentucky to the banks of the Mississippi

and back again between insisted that

was chief

twilight

and bedtime.

finally released.

The

following day a very old

named Tetcboxti was sentenced

held for

He

he had returned the charm, however, and

the

purpose,

at

at a council

which he was

present.

THE RISE OF THE PROPHET. Knowing

there was no escape, he arrayed himself in

his finest clothes

of his

11/

own

and calmly

assisted in the building

In consideration of his age,

funeral pile.

the white-haired chief was treated mercifully, being killed before his

er " called

An

body was burned.

Joshua

— probably

next met the same

a Christian convert

A

fate.

old " preach-

council

—

was held over

the wife of Teteboxti and his nephew, Billy Patter-

The

son.

praying.

latter died like a Christian, singing

Preparations were then

when her

ing of Teteboxti's wife,

man

made

brother, a

young

of twenty, suddenly started up and bravely led

He

her by the hand out of the house. the

and

burn-

for the

amazed

council,

and

to the Prophet) " has killing

each

said

"

The

Devil," (alluding

come amongst

other."

He

then

returned to

us,

and we are

reseated

himself.

This seemed to awaken the Indians to a realization of what they were doing, and put a stop for a time to further persecutions it

among

the Delawares, while

gave a check to the influence of the Prophet.

CHAPTER

XIII.

THE BAND AT GREENVILLE—THE PROPHET IN COUNCIL. •

As

soon as Governor Harrison heard of

craft delusion,

this witch-

he sent to the Delaware Indians the

following " speech " or

letter,

by a

special

messen-

ger:—

"My Children My heart is my eyes are dissolved in tears at You have been

reached me.

wisdom above

with

filled

:

grief,

celebrated

for

the tribes of the red people

all

inhabit this great island.

and

the news which has

Your fame

your

who

as warriors has

extended to the remotest nations, and the wisdom of

your

chiefs has gained

fathers from

you the appellation of grand-

cause, then, docs

it

yourselves with guilt

you have

straight road

you have departed

proceed that

from the wise counsels of your

steps

From what

the neighboring tribes.

all

?

My

taken, and

and covered

fathers

children, tread

endeavor

to

which you have abandoned.

crooked, and thorny one which you arc

back the

regain the

The dark, now pur-

suing will certainly lead to endless woe and misery.

But who

is

this

pretended prophet

who

dares to speak

THE BAND AT GREENVILLE. name

in the Is

of the great Creator

he more wise and virtuous

II9

Examine him.

?

you are your-

tlian

he should be selected to convey to you

selves, that

God

the orders of your

Demand

?

him some

of

proofs at least of his being the messenger of the Deity.

If

God

has really employed

him,

doubtless authorized

him

may be known and

received as a prophet.

him

really a prophet, ask of still,

the

moon

to alter

to flow, or the

he

dead

does these things,

its

commands you in

them

out.

who

offend

power of nature not sweep

He

directed

away

if

My

?

The above

is

If

Is

!

then the Master to

punish those

the thunder and the

And

children,

He

could

\\'ith

do not believe

Creator of mankind

this

who

authorized to point

is

your own

you pursue will

is

that the Great

from the earth a whole nation

to destroy

His vengeance

you

command ?

great and good

you

doubt that "

tells

to punish with death those

His

one motion of his arm that the

from their graves.

Has He not

at

he

you may believe that he has

employ mortal man

Him ?

If

to cause the sun to stand

Wretched delusion

of Life obliged to

has

course, the rivers to cease

magic, and that he

deal

He

perform miracles that he

to rise

been sent from Cod. Spirit

to

flesh

;

has

and do not

abominable wickedness

overtake you and crush you.

addressed to you

the Seventeen Fires.

I

now speak

to

in

the

name

of

you from my-

TECUMSEII.

I20 self,

I

who

as a friend

wishes nothing more sincerely than

you prosperous and happy.

to see

Clear your eyes,

beseech you, from the mist which surrounds them.

No

longer be imposed upon by the arts of an im-

Drive him from your town, and

postor.

and harmony old

men and women

let

peace,

Let your poor

prevail amongst you.

sleep in quietness,

and banish

from their minds the dreadful idea of being burnt

own

and countrymen.

alive

by

their

you

to

stop your bloody career; and

friends

if

I

charge

you value

the friendship of your great father, the President;

you wish

to preserve the

teen Fires, that It

let

me

Fires "

good opinion of the Seven-

hear by the return of the bearer to follow

my

explain that

by

you have determined necessary to

is

meant the United

is

States,

advice." " Seventeen

which consisted

at that time of seventeen states, or council-fires

mode

the Indian

There

is

in

of speaking.

no evidence that Tecumseh was

of this persecution for witchcraft, asserts that

if

he was opposed to

it,

in favor

and one authority though

it

is

not

unlikely that he was quite willing to serve his ends

by the Prophet's The Prophet Shawnces

lost

many

at this tim.e, there

of that nation cessful in

reign of terror. followers

among

the

being only about forty

left in his village.

He was

not so suc-

gaining an ascendency among the Miamis

THE BAND AT GREENVILLE. as he

Dclawares, in whose midst he

was with the

had hvcd

some

for

121

During the year i8o6,

years.

however, the Prophet and Tecumseh were estabhshed at Greenville,

where they were

Indians, so that they

visited

again greatly augmented the

strength of their band of followers. exercised his

gifts

by very many

The Prophet

with diligence, seeing visions and

dreaming dreams.

It is

probable that he had heard

beforehand from the whites of the great eclipse of the

sun which was

to

occur in

Governor

i8o6.

Harrison's challenge that he should

work wonders

was an unfortunate one,

is

for

miracles

wrought among

people.

He

nothing

easier

ignorant and

than

credulous

boldly announced to his followers that

on a certain day he would make darkness come over the sun as proof of his supernatural power.

Accord-

ingly at the time appointed, the Prophet, standing in the midst of his party at midday, cried out,

grew dark, "Did

not prophesy truly?

I

darkness has shrouded the sun course,

made

" !

when

all

Behold!

This incident, of

a great impression on the Indian mind,

and established the

belief in his right to the claim of

intercourse with the Great Spirit.

About on the

April, 1807, great alarm began to be

frontier.

At

this

felt

time the Prophet had gath-

ered near four hundred Indians around him.

These

savages were greatly excited by religious fanaticism,

6

TECUMSEH.

122

and were ready,

it

was believed, to

which the

prise into

eral efforts

join

any enter-

brotliers should lead them.

Sev-

were made to learn the objects of the

leaders in gathering together so

without success.

many

warriors, but

Tlie Indian agent at Fort

Wayne,

William Wells, sent Anthony Shane, a half-blood

Shawnee, to them, with a request that Tecumseh and the Prophet, with two of their other chiefs, should

him

visit

to

at

them a

letter

great father,

A

in

order that he might read

which he had just received from their President of the United States.

tlie

council was called, and Shane delivered his mes-

Tecumseh, who seems now

sage.

the

Fort Wayne,

first

have

to

risen to

place in the band, leaving his brother to

play Aaron to his Moses, arose, without consulting

any other member of the

council,

assumption of kingly dignity,

said, "

Wayne, and

tell

Captain Wells

tliat

and, with an

Go

on the spot appointed by the Great and

is

Spirit

to

Fort

kindled

above

he has anything to communicate to me,

if

must come from

back

my fire

here.

I

shall

expect him

in

six

lie

days

this time,"

With

this

message Shane was obliged to return to

the Indian agent, who, not feeling inclined to wait on

Tecumseh

in person, sent

Shane back

at the appoint-

ed time with a copy of the President's communication.

The substance

of

tliis

was that they were

THE BAND AT GREENVILLE.

1

remove from where they were

desired to

23

established,

being within the hmits of the purchase from the

it

Indians.

they would

If

move beyond

the bounda-

agreed upon at the treaty of Greenville,

ries

assist-

ance would be given them by the government until

they were established

in

their

new home.

This was

carefully interpreted to the Indians at a council

all

which was assembled

for the purpose.

Tecumseh's dignity was much offended that Cap-

He

arose,

to his followers, deeply excited,

made

Wells had not visited him

tain

and turning

them

in person.

a long, fiery, and eloquent speech, in which he

spoke of the

injuries the red

men had

received from

He

the whites and of their constant encroachments. closed with these words

:

"

These lands are ours

one has a right to remove first

owners

;

will remain.

on which to

As

light our fires,

He

any."

paused a moment, and then turning with dig-

my

Fires, has

a

man

Spirit

red people

will his

nified indifference to the messenger,

" If

no the

and here

to boundaries, the Great

above knows no boundaries, nor

know

;

the Great Spirit above has appointed

this place for us

we

us,

because we were

father,

he said

the President of the

:

Seventeen

anything more to say to me, he must send

of note as his messenger.

I

will

ther intercourse with Captain Wells."

hold no fur-

TECUMSEII.

124

The Prophet then and defiant on

his

rose and spoke in the

same

own account:

Why

"

does not the President

of the Seventeen Fires send us the greatest his nation

?

can talk to him

I

him and me

ness between

my

the sun under

lofty

doing also some personal bragging

strain,

feet

—

I

nay, more,

;

in

can bring dark-

and what white

;

man

can bring

I

man

can do

this?"

The and

among

stir

at the

many

of

last

as fifteen

May

was estimated that so

it

hundred Indians had passed and

Wayne

passed Fort

the Indians Avent on increasing,

on

visits to

the Prophet.

re-

IMany

There was

of these were from very remote nations.

a great assembling of councils; messengers were sent

from tribe to

tribe with pipes

and

it

was

afoot.

English agents were also

very active object of

in assisting in

wampum,

all

was kept

this

mated by those

known

to

be

the excitement, while the entirely secret from the

Arhericans and friendly Indian

the

belts of

was evident that some uncommon movement

and

chiefs.

It

was

esti-

familiar with Indian affairs, that in

month of August

the

Prophet and Tecumsch

had gained the leadership of seven or eight hundred Indians at P'ort these were

These

Wayne and

armed with new

facts

coming

to the

ernor of Ohio, he sent

Greenville.

Mau)^ of

rifles.

knowledge of the gov-

Thomas Worthington and

THE BAND AT GREENVILLE. Duncan McArthur

1

25

to Greenville to hold a council

with the Prophet and Tecumseh, in order to inquire

what was

their intention

in

assembling so large a

of Indians within the limits of the land they

body

had already ceded

to

United States

the

in

1795.

These commissioners were courteously received, and a general council of the Indians was called, at which

Stephen Ruddell, who had lived among them seventeen

years

and understood the Shawnee tongue,

acted as interpreter.

The governor's

letter

was

first

read and interpreted in the Shawnee, Pottawatomie,

The commissioners then

and Chippewa languages.

made

a speech referring to the relations existing be-

tween the Indians and the United States Great Britain's policy toward the portance

latter,

of the Indians remaining

in the past,

and the im-

neutral in the

event of a war between these two nations.

The it

council

was continued the following day, when

was announced that the Shawnee

who was

authorized

by

all

chief,

Blue Jacket,

the Indians present to

speak for them, would answer the commissioners. " Brethren,"

said

Blue Jacket,

You

"

we

are

who heard you

yesterday.

lation, as far as

we and our connections can

who

are as follows

:

will

seated

get a true regive

it,

Shawnees, Wyandots, Pottawat-

omies, Tawas, Chippewas, Winnepaus, Malomincse,

Malockese, Secawgoes, and one more from the north

TECUMSEH.

126

Brethren, you see

of the Chippewas.

you who now speak

sitting before

"

About

which the

and

all

men

eleven

days ago we had a council at

tribe of

Wyandots, the elder brother of

the red people, spoke and said, fire,

these

all

to you.

sat

around

God had

kindled a

we

In this council

it.

talked

over the treaties with the French and the Americans.

The Wyandots

said, the

Charleston

(S.

When

side.

No man was

C).

the Americans

to pass

came

it

from either

to settle

over the

the English told the Indians to unite and drive

line,

off the French, until the

British

war came on between the

and Americans, when

King George, by and

French formerly marked a

along the Alleghany Mountains, southerly to

line

drive the

it

was

told

his officers, directed

them that

them

to unite

Americans back.

"After the treaty of peace between the English and the Americans,

the

summer

before

Wayne's army

came

out, the English held a council

dians,

and told them

if

they would unite as one man,

they might surround the Americans of

and destroy them

fire

further in the council. like to

all.

We

like

deer

in a ring

The Wyandot spoke see,

said

he, there

is

be war between the English and our white

brethren, the Americans.

wars of

Let us unite and consid-

we have undergone from interfering They have often promthe English.

er the sufferings in the

with the In-

THE TROPIIET ised to help us,

and

army

that

stand the

English

you

let

It

at last,

;

you

12/

when we could not

came upon

fort for refuge, the

in

IN COUNCIL.

us,

and went to the

English told

are painted too

with-

much,

us,

my

I

*

cannot

children.'

was then we saw the English dealt treacherously

with

We

us.

We

do not

Let

us,

of the

my

now see them going to war again. know what they are going to fight for.

brethren, not

our

was the speech

Wyandot

" Further, the little

interfere,

Wyandot Shawnee

brother, the

brothers

little

all

Now

speak to you,

at Greenville,

my

and to you

You appear

around.

Greenville to serve the verse.

said, I

to

be

at

Supreme Ruler of the Uni-

send forth your speeches to

brethren far around us, and

let

our

all

us unite to seek for

that which shall be for our eternal welfare, and unite

ourselves

in

a

band

of

brotherhood.

perpetual

These, brethren, are the sentiments of

who

sit

around you

elder brother, the their sentiments.

;

they

all

adhere to

Wyandot, has It is

all

said,

men

the

what the

and these are

not that they are afraid of

their white brethren, but that they desire peace

harmony, and not that

their white brethren

and

could

put them to great necessity, for their former arms

were bows and arrows by which they got

their liv-

ing."

The commissioners made some explanations

in

TECUMSEH.

128

They were then why the

reply to the speech of Blue Jacket,

would

told that the Prophet

Indians "

He

had established

tell

the reasons

themselves at

Greenville.

then proceeded to inform us," say the commis-

sioners in their report, " that about three years since

he became convinced of the error of

his

ways, and

that he v/ould be destroyed from the face of the earth if

he did not amend them

known

to

;

that

him what he should do

it

was soon

after

be right; that

to

time he constantly preached to his red

from that

brethren the miserable situation they were in by nature,

and endeavored

must change all

convince them that they

to

their lives, live honestly,

their dealings

;

and be

just in

kind toward one another and their

white brethren; affectionate toward their families

away

and slandering, and serve the

lying

Spirit in the

way He had

of war again

;

tomahawk

to

that the

go

to

pointed out

never think

;

Lord did not give them the

war with one another.

listen to

His red

Tawa

town,

him, but persecuted him.

This

brethren, the chiefs of the Shawnees at

would not

put

;

Great

produced a division

in

the nation

;

those

who

ad-

hered to him separated themselves from their brethren at

he

Tawa town, removed now was, and where

the above doctrine to see them.

They

all

with him, and settled where

he had constantly preached the strangers

who came

to

did not remove to this place be-

THE PROPHET cause

was

it

IN COUNCIL.

129

was a pretty place or very valuable,

neither, but because

it

was revealed

to

for

it

him that

the place was a proper one to establish his doctrines that he

meant

were not

to

adhere to them while he lived

;

they

own, nor were they taught him by

his

man, but by the Supreme Ruler of the Universe that his future

life

should prove to his brethren the

sincerity of his professions. chiefs should

go with us

He

then told us that six

to Chillicothe."

6*

CHAPTER

XIV.

TECUMSEH'S DEFIANT SPEECHES. According to the

Prophet's promise, four chiefs

Tecumseh, Blue Jacket, Roundhead, and Panther returned with the commissioners to the seat of govern-

ment

in Ohio.

Here they remained about a week,

during which time a council was held.

enough, Tecumseh,

who seems

to

Curiously-

have reserved

his

eloquence for some one of more importance than the commissioners, was the principal speaker at this conference held with the governor of Ohio.

He

at

one

In this speech he un-

time spoke for three hours.

dertook to prove the nullity of the treaties under

which the Americans claimed any land north and west of the Ohio.

He

reviewed

all

the treaties of

the whites with the Western tribes in their order, and

showed a thorough knowledge of them. their validity with great bitterness

He

denied

and scorn, and

boldly declared his intention of resisting any further

encroachments of the whites. stated his opinions, he

still

While he so frankly

disavowed any intention

of making war on the whites.

Tecumseh's eloquence

is

highly spoken

of

by

TECUMSEH'S DEFIANT SPEECHES.

who heard

those

The

"

speech.

this

the speaker was rapid and vehement

bold

and commanding;

quick, and

for utterance

cil

more

his

in

than he deemed

The governor was

his

;

manner

impassioned,

countenance indicating that

violent, his

there was something

utterance of

gestures

his

131

mind struggling

prudent to express."

it

satisfied at the close of this

coun-

was no immediate danger to be feared

that there

from these Indians

and disbanded the

at

Greenville and Fort

militia

Wayne,

which had been called into

service.

In the

fall

of 1807,

new apprehensions

arose in

man

near the

consequence of the murder of a white

Urbana now

spot where

stands,

by some

straggling

This event, and the fact that so

Indians.

dians were assembled under the

many

In-

Prophet, produced

many famThe whites made a

a great alarm on the frontier, which led to

ilies

return to Kentucky.

demand on Tecumseh and

They, however, denied any knowledge of

derers.

the

affair.

ance,

it

the Prophet for the mur-

In order to quiet the increasing disturb-

was

finally

agreed that a council should be

held at Springfield. In this council, which included in

hundred Indians, were from the north and of

sixty

or

seventy

present

that

all

nearly three

two parties

of Tecumseh,

warriors,

including

— one

consisting

Round

TECUMSEIT.

132

Between

head, Blackfish, and several other chiefs. these two

parties

some jealousy

and each

existed,

was willing that the other should be blamed with the murder. to leave their

With

The commissioners wished

the Indians

arms a few miles outside of

Springfield.

Tecumseh, who was never

ference was held in a maple

opened, the commissioners,

renewed

The con-

He

grove.

Tecumseh

and he might wish

they closed their session.

was

it

violence,

to lay aside

refused again, saying his

also his pipe,

before

After

who feared some

their efforts to induce

his arms.

any

willing to appear in

council without proper dignity, refused.

was

but

this request the northern party complied,

to use

tomahawk it

as

such

(The tomahawk

At who was among the spectators, approaching Tecumseh with great caution, handed

had a pipe-bowl on the back.)

this point a long,

lank Pennsylvanian,

him

his pipe, a

long-stemmed, dirty-looking earthen

would

deliver

it

it if

he

up the dreadful tomahawk.

The

thumb and

finger,

kingly chief took held

Tecumseh might smoke

intimating that

affair,

it

between

up, looked at

it

his

and then at the owner, who

was cautiously backing away, and then threw

it

with

an indignant sneer over his head into the bushes.

The oldest chief present, Tarfee, or the Crane, who was head chief of the Wyandots, took charge of

the

opening ceremonies

in

the

council.

The

tecumseh's defiant speeches. chiefs

and braves were seated

front

of

the

agent's

in

a

Wyandots and

semicircle

in

The peace-pipe was

stand.

The

passed round in token of good-will. of the

133

old chief

the chief of the Ottawas re-

and

plied in a conciliatory tone,

all

seemed

be

to

But un-

going on toward a peaceful termination.

happily Tecumseh's part was no longer that of peace-

The growth

maker. the

keeping alive of

whites

;

and the deep and this

of his ambitious plans involved

towards the

feeling

hostile

and no doubt the hatred of

antagonism

bitter

moment

childhood

his

manhood had

conflicts of his early in

his

mind.

left

a

Just at

made

of reconciliation he rose and

a

speech of fiery eloquence, tracking the history of the relations of the

to his

own

two races from the

time.

first

settlements

So tremendous was the

this defiant oratory, that the

younger warriors were

hardly able to keep their seats

even the old men,

who

sat

effect of

in the

council,

and

smoking, showed the

greatest excitement, so that the immediate breaking

up of the council seemed imminent.

when he had

closed, turned his

Tecumseh,

back on the agent's

stand and walked to the remotest part of the semicircle,

where he took

Here

his seat

among

the

young

braves.

again, as elsewhere, the interpreter was obliged

to confess his inability to

a foreign tongue.

put Tecumseh's speech into

There were some parts that he

TECUMSEH.

134

purposely omitted, fearing that General Simon Kenton,

who was one

oi^

the agents at this council, would

not brook words that " were so defiant, so wrathful, so denunciatory, so

full

of indignant abuse."

But

the speech was not meant for the agents, but for the

The shrewd Tecumseh knew

Indians.

that

all

of the

Indians present would give admiring reports of his gallant defiance of the whites, his

He was is

by every

ascendency would be extended

camp-fire.

Thus

other

tribes.

in

not unlike the congressman whose

made for the newspapers. The council afterward became more

and the

affair

During

was

In these

settled.

games and

Tecumseh was generally

Those who attended the council admired physical character.

conciliatory,

their stay at Springfield the Indians

themselves several times with sports.

speech

vigor almost as

much

as

his

amused athletic

victorious.

his splendid

intellectual

CHAPTER

XV.

GENERAL HARRISON AND THE PROPHET. William Henry Harrison was born rison,

Vir-

His father, Benjamin Har-

year 1773.

ginia, in the

in

was one of the signers of the Declaration of

When

Independence.

sirous of joining

For

Clair.

this

very young, Harrison was de-

the Western campaign under

purpose, Washington,

an intimate friend of his

St.

who had been

gave him an appoint-

father,

ment.

He

set out, at the

age of nineteen, with the com-

mission of ensign to join the army, and arrived im-

mediately after

Wayne came

St.

Clair's defeat.

into control of the

he noticed the

spirit

When

North-Western army

and wisdom of young Harrison,

and appointed him one of

flattering

In this

his aids-de-camp.

capacity he fought in Wayne's campaign

and received

General

commendation from

in

1794,

his

com-

mander.

On left

the death of General

the

army and was appointed

Northwestern Territory.

name

to

Wayne,

He

be brought forward

in 1797,

Harrison

secretary of the

declined to allow his for the

governorship,

TECUMSEII.

136

because he was unwilling to be brought into compewith

tition

In 180 1, on the erection of

Clair.

St.

the territory of Indiana, he was appointed governor

new

of the

Indian sole

and

territory,

ex-officio superintendent of

He was made by

affairs.

commissioner

President Jefferson

for treating with the Indians.

was thus that he came

It

be so nearly connected

to

with the history of Tecumseh.

The

council with

Tecumseh

Governor Harrison, a speech,

by one

on the

general alarm

not quiet the

did

at Springfield in

in the

autumn

frontier.

of this year, sent

of the Indian agents,

named John

Connor, to the head chiefs of the Shawnees. chiefs,

The Prophet

ered.

My

Children

:

when

the speech was deliv-

listened patiently while

him

read, as follows, to

name

These

and probably Tecumseh among them, were

absent from Greenville

"

1807

it

was

in

the

:

Listen to me.

I

speak

of your father, the great chief of the Seventeen

Fires.

"

My

children,

it

is

now

tomahawk, which you had your

father, the

Greenville,

in

King

the

twelve years since the

raised

by

the advice of

of Great Britain, was buried at

presence

of that

great warrior,

General Wayne. "

My

Spirit

children,

heard

it,

you then promised, and the Great that

you would

in

future live in

GENERAL HARRISON AND THE PROPHET.

137

peace and friendship with your brothers, the Ameri-

You made

cans.

that contained

a treaty witli your father, and one

number

a

of c^ood

parties to "

My

you promised

children,

any foreign

in tnat treaty to ac-

father than

Seventeen Fires, and never to

lift

who were

it.

knowledge no other

tion of

equally

things,

beneficial to all the tribes of red people

nation.

the

chief of the

listen to the

proposi-

You promised

never to

up the tomahawk against any of your

father's

give notice of any other tribe that

children,

and

to

intended

it.

Your

some-

father also promised to do

thing for you, particularly to deliver to you every

year a certain quantity of goods, to prevent any white

man from

consent,

settling

or to do

promised to run a that

on your lands without your

you any personal line

between your land and

you might know your own

;

He

injury. his,

and you were

to

so

be

permitted to live and hunt upon your father's land as

long as you behaved yourselves well.

My

children,

which of these articles has your father broken

know good

that he has observed faith.

But,

my

them

all

?

You

with the utmost

children, have you done so

Have you not always had your

ears

open

to recei\'e

bad advice from the white people bej'ond the lakes " It

My children, let us look back to

?

?

times that are past-

has been a long time since you called the King of

TECUMSEH.

138 Great Britain

You know

father.

that

it

is

the duty

of a father to watch over his children, to give them

good

and

advice,

to

do everything

make them happy. What has for

you during

pier than

?

you were before

nation stronger or

power

to

yours done

more

Are you wiser and hapyou knew him; or is your

respectable

?

No,

my

chil-

he took you by the hand when you were a

dren,

powerful tribe

you held him

;

your

friend,

filled

with thorns and

supposing he was

fast,

and he conducted you through paths briars,

and shed your blood.

Your

which tore your

in

your

He saw

you.

assist

Did he stay by

and comfort you

?

and then abandoned

into dangers

your blood flowing, and he would give

you no bandage

up your wounds.

to tie

the conduct of the

The Great

father.

and

distress

No, he led you

flesh

strength was exhausted,

and you could no longer follow him.

you

his

time that you looked up to him

tlie

and advice

for protection

in

this father of

man who

This was

called himself

your

opened your eyes; you

Spirit

heard the voice of the chief of the Seventeen Fires speaking words of peace.

him

;

you came

on the right

way

would have led deceiver

is

sufferings,

to him,

— on

He

called

you

to follow

and he once more put you

the broad, smooth road that

to happiness.

But the voice of your

again heard, and, forgetful of your former

you

are listening to him.

GENERAL HARRISON AND THE PROPHET. "

My

1

your cars and mind him

children, shut

39

not,

or he will lead you to ruin and misery. "

My children,

I

have heard bad news.

The

sacred

spot where the great council-fire was kindled, around

which the Seventeen Fires and ten children

—

smoked the pipe of peace

where the Great

saw

Spirit

his red

tribes of their

that very spot

and white children

encircle themselves with the chain of friendship

that place has been selected for dark

—

and bloody

councils.

"

My children, this

have called

a

in

You

business must be stopped.

number of men from

tribes to listen to a fool,

who

the most distant

speaks not the words of

the Great Spirit, but those of the devil and of the British agents.

My children,

alarmed the white that

you

settlers

your conduct has much

They

near you.

send away those people, and

will

desire if

they

wish to have the impostor with them they can carry him. British

Let him go to the lakes

more

When

;

he can hear the

distinctly."

the reading of this speech was finished, the

Prophet dictated the following answer " Father,

am sorry that you listen to the advice You have impeached me with having

I

of bad birds.

correspondence with

and sending the country,

:

the

for Indians *

British,

and with

calling

from the most distant part of

to listen to a fool that speaks not the

TECUMSEH.

I40

words of the Great

Spirit,

but the words of the

Father, these impeachments

not true.

I

deny, and say they are

I

never had a word with the

British,

and

I

They came here them-

never sent for any Indians. selves

devil.'

and hear the words of the Great

to listen

Spirit.

" Father, I wish

you would not

the voice of bad birds that

it is

and we

;

listen

and you

the least of our idea to

will rather try to stop

any more

may

make

to

rest assured

disturbance,

any such proceedings

than to encourage them."

A man

by

the

name

of John Tanner,

who had been

taken captive by the Indians when a boy, was time

among

at this

the Chippewas, or Ojibbeways, a nation

now on Lake Superior and Lake Michigan, and known to all readers of literature as the people made famous by Longfellow's poem of

living then

as

Hiawatha.

He

gives an interesting account of the

influence of the Prophet's reputation over the superstitious

mind of the

Fie says that

Indian.

news reached

this distant

the Shawnees had received a

Great

Spirit.

A

people that

revelation from

messenger brought

this

the

piece of

information, and appeared deeply impressed with the

solemnity of his mission. first

When

he arrived he at

maintained a long and mysterious silence before

announcincr that he was the forerunner of the great

GENERAL HARRISON AND THE TROPHET. who would soon shake hands

Prophet,

I4I

with the Chip-

pewas, reveal to them his inspired character, and set forth the

new manner

after

adopt.

to

of living which they were here-

He

repeated the doctrines of the

Prophet to them, and solemnly enjoined the observ-

A

ance of his system of morals. Vv^as

made by

all

this

upon the

strong impression

Chippcwas, and a time was appointed and a

the

lodge

built, that

lodge,

the

When

in public.

"we saw

new

doctrines might be accepted

the Indians had gathered

in figure

some resemblance

sions bearing

upon

stood, attended constantly

man, and

remained no one went near

which was spread over strings of visible

mouldy and

insignia

long harangue,

new

This Avas

was under-

it.

told

all,

unknown

lodge,

all

the

After a

which the prominent features of

the

he

upon the

four strings of beads, which

were made of the

and

Four

contents.

discolored beads were

flesh

was expected

of each string at the top,

wc

of the Prophet,

were carried with much solemnity to each the

at

or raised the blanket

of his important mission. in

bed

its

But while we

revelation were stated and urged

attention of

were

its

it,

it

made

it,

slept near

and dimen-

man.

to a

accompanied by two young men, who,

night, as for a

in this

something," says Mv. Tanner, "care-

under a blanket,

fully concealed

the

men among

principal

to

man

take

in

hold

and draw them gently

TECUMSEH.

142

through

This was called shaking hands

his hand.

with the Prophet, and was considered as solemnly

engaging

obey

to

his injunctions

mission as from the Supreme.

and accept of

who

All the Indians

touched the beads had previously

killed their

dogs

they gave up their medicine bags, and showed a position

to

comply with

The

of them.

whom

of

was very

by the remotest Ojibbe-

felt

any

had

I

knowledge,

but

was not the common impression among them his

accomplishment

the

in

For less

any tendency

had

doctrines

two

or three

frequent than

and the

entire

dis-

that should be required

influence of the Prophet

sensibly and painfully

ways

all

his

any

of

years,

to

purpose.

drunkenness was

formerly,

was

aspect of things

changed by the influence of

less

that

them

unite

human

it

much

thought

of,

among them was

this mission.

But

in

time these new impressions were obliterated, medicine bags,

flints

and

steels,

the use of which had been

forbidden, were brought into use; dogs were reared,

women and

children

Shawnee Prophet was Early

in the

beaten

as

before,

and

the

despised."

year 1808, great numbers of Indians

came

flocking from the lakes to visit the Prophet.

With

the

characteristic

they prolonged their entirely exhausted.

improvidence

visit until their

of

savages,

provisions were

Their religious excitement of

GENERAL HARRISON AND THE rROPHET.

occupation of corn-raising.

43

more pro-

the previous year had interfered with the saic

1

Governor Harrison

benevolently and prudently (for hungry Indians are apt to be dangerous neighbors) ordered

who

to

carried out this order

came

be

The

Wayne.

supplied from the public stores at Fort

Indian agent

them

to the

conclusion that the Prophet's followers had no hostile designs against the United States. likely

that

the

in

It

seems very

beginning the purpose

of

Prophet was simply the establishment of a new ion,

the

relig-

with an accompanying reformation of morals,

many suggestions in a fragmentary and distorted way from the missionaries who had preached Christianity among the Indians. As with and that he got

Mohammed

and other

was an afterthought. influence of

Tecumseh

leaders, the political It

may have been

Tecumseh, about 1808,

The

visited the Mississinawa villages.

could

the rising

that gave this final bent to the

preaching of the Prophet.

trip

purpose

not be discovered, but

it

object of this

was probably

connected with his incipient scheme of uniting the Indians in a confederacy, of which he should be the leader.

The Indians

meet him and

Wabash,

An

to

in

these

towns promised to

his brother the following June,

on the

which place they had decided to move.

Indian agent, Mr. Jouctt, wrote to the governor

that he

feared this meetiner

would

result

in

some

TECUMSEH.

144 hostile

movement on

the frontier, and advised that

Prophet should be seized and imprisoned,

the

order to extinguish his influence.

in

General Harrison

rejected this proposition, probably because so violent

a measure would have precipitated

hostilities

with

Tecumseh's band.

The Pottawatomies and Kickapoos granted Tecumseh and the Prophet a

tract of land

on the Tip-

Wabash River. what is now the

pecanoe, one of the tributaries of the

To

western part of

this place, in the

Tecumseh and

State of Indiana,

their party, started to

much

to the relief,

remove

the

Prophet, with

in the spring of 1808,

no doubt, of

their civilized neigh-

The Miami and Delaware

bors in Ohio.

nations

had strong objections to their establishing themselves on the Wabash, and

set out to prevent

it.

At

this

time the number of the Prophet's immediate band

was

still

very small, there being only about forty

Shawnees and

less

than a hundred of other nations,

mostly Pottawatomies, Chippewas, Ottawas, and Winnebagoes,

Tecumseh, however, boldly met the de-

putation of chiefs from the Miamis and Delawares,

and turned them back from his settlement in Indiana. tribes,

their

purpose of stopping

They

returned to their

but with strong suspicions of the motives of

the brothers.

Tecumseh and

his brother established a village

on

GENERAL HARRISON AND THE PROPHET.

145

to be known as the They now drew around them a Prophet's Town. body of Northern Indians, much to the disgust of the Miamis and Delawares. The Prophet's followers

which came

the Tippecanoe,

here, for the

first

with their

sports

began

time,

religious

to

combine warlike

over the Prophet's

gift for

Tecumseh's

exercises.

genius for war was gradually asserting

its

ascendency

exciting religious fanati-

cism.

The Prophet now announced Governor Harrison,

visit

movements and

He

said

in

that he intended to

order to

explain

his

to procure provisions for his band.

" these could not be consistently withheld

from him, since the white people had always encour-

aged him

and

it

to preach the

was

in

this

word of God

to the Indians,

holy work that he

was now

engaged." In the latter part of June, 1808, he sent a small

deputation of Indians to Vincennes with a " speech" to the governor.

This speech denied

all

the unfa-

vorable representations of his purposes which had

been

circulated, saying that

he and Tecumseh wished

to live in peace with the white

ing soon

who

to

visit

the

The messenger

bore this speech of the Prophet's, said, in a con-

ference with the governor

"

people, and promis-

governor.

I

have

now

:

listened to that

7

man upward

of three

TECUMSEH.

146 years,

advice. Spirit

our

and have never heard him give any but good He tells us that we must pray to the Great

who made

He

use.

the world and everything in

us that no

tells

plants, the trees,

could

the

whom we ought to He tells us not to lie,

Spirit, to

in all things.

to steal, nor to drink w^iisky; not to to live in peace with to

make

and the animals, but that they must

be made by the Great

pray and obey

man

for

it

mankind.

all

go

He

but

to war,

tells

us also

work and make corn." In August, the Prophet

weeks

made

his visit, staying

To prove

with Governor Harrison.

his sincerity

earnestness, he frequently addressed the Indians,

were with him

in

two

and holding frequent interviews

at Vincennes,

the

.

presence of the

and

who

governor,

dwelling upon the great evils resulting from war and the use

Harrison soon formed a very

of liquor.

favorable tested his

estimate

of

the

Prophet's

influence over his followers

talents.

He

by holding

conversations with them and offering them whisky,

which they always been interested

done

in

refused.

for the Indians,

his letters to the

and had many times urged,

in

government, the necessity for keep-

ing wiiisky from them. this

The governor had long

the discussion of what was to be

He now began

to

hope that

preacher of temperance might better their con-

dition.

.;;r|||l!!aif|liani!liir-''Xi'RV,llilK""T;a;.V«tti^il^

PORTRAIT OF THE PROPHET.

GENERAL HARRISON AND THE PROPHET. Before the close of his this

"

visit,

tliat

:

first

began

practice.

Tlie

three years since

It is

:

system of rehgion which

47

the Prophet dehvered

speech before the governor

Father

1

I

now

I

white people and some of the Indians were against

me, but

among

I

had no other intention but

to introduce

the Indians those good principles of religion

which the white people

profess.

I

was spoken badly

of by the white people,

who reproached me

misleading

but

that

I

the

Indians,

was

I

him the

you intended

told

When I heard this, tell my father when I

I I

father, the

went

to see

when

settled

I

to

governor, had declared that

know,

not steal horses.

that

it

and

relate to

father,

I

if I

heard

I

the prop-

also heard that

whether Avas the

this

the land

all

Wayne was I

my

you

was God or

former

I

should

from Mr. Wells, but

I

originated with himself

The Great he had

that he evil.

my

and that you said

believed "

him and

it

on the Wabash, that

erty of the Seventeen Fires.

;

hang me.

truth.

heard,

wanted

to

intended to remember

between Vinccnnes and Fort

man

with

to say

did anything amiss.

" Father,

"

defy them

I

Spirit

told

me

to

tell

made them, and made

had placed them on

it

to

the

Indians

the world

do good and not

TECUMSEH.

148 "

told

I

all

the redskins that the

was not good, and that they ought "

but

abandon

That we ought to consider ourselves we ought to live agreeably to our

toms, the red people after their

people after theirs

;

drink whisky; that

one man,

several cus-

mode and

was not made

it

for

who knew how

the cause of

it is

as

in

it.

the white

particularly that they should not

for the white people

that

way they were to

all

them, but

to use

and

it,

the mischiefs which the In-

dians suffer, and that they must follow the directions of the Great Spirit, and

was He that made us that

bad

is

;

;

we must

listen to

determine to

Him,

listen to

as

it

nothing

do not take up the tomahawk should

be offered by the British or by the Long Knives

;

it

do

not meddle with anything that does not belong to you, but mind your

ground, that your

enough "

I

own

business and cultivate the

women and

children

may have

to live on.

now

inform you that

it

is

our Intention to

live

in peace with our father and his people forever.

"

My

to do,

I

have informed you what we mean

I call

the Great Spirit to witness the truth

father,

and

of my declaration.

The

religion

which

I

have estab-

lished for the last three years has been attended all

by

the different tribes of Indians in this part of the

world.

they are

Those Indians were once

now but one

;

they are

different people; all

determined to

GENERAL HARRISON AND THE PROPHET. what

practice

have communicated

I

come immediately from But

one.

let

We

comfort and peace.

we

Formerly, when ;

but now, since

Spirit,

"

I

we

You

are

us lay aside this character and attend

may

you

desire that

will join us

we were

lived in ignorance,

we

live in

both red and white people.

for the preservation of

ish

them, that has

to

care of our children, that they

to the

49

the Great Spirit through me.

speak to you as a warrior.

" Brother, I

1

fool-

of the Great

listen to the voice

are happy.

have listened

You have promised

what you have

to

to assist us.

I

in behalf of all the red people, to use

to prevent the sale of liquor to us.

said

now

to

us.

request you,

your exertions

We

are

all

well

pleased to hear you say that you will endeavor to

We

promote our happiness. ance that we

will follow

give you every assur-

the dictates of the

Great

Spirit.

"We

are

have shown

all

well pleased with the attention

us, also

with the good intentions of our

father, the President.

such as needles,

you

flints,

If

you give us a few

hoes, powder, etc.,

the animals that afford us meat Avith

articles,

we will

take

powder and

ball."

This speech has the characteristic Indian peroration.

A

bit of

begging

is

in

almost every speech of

the kind, and the close of this plea of the Prophet's

TECUMSEH.

I50 attests its

genuineness.

of Tcnskwatawa's

life

Nor

can one read this part

without feehng that beneath

his ignorance, persecuting fanaticism,

all

and imposture,

there was a real ambition to be a benefactor to the

Like

Indians.

many

another so-called prophet, he

did not hold out so well as he began. religion

His system of

was a farrago compounded of Indian preju-

and scraps of ideas gathered here and there

dices

from the missionaries.

But

it

seems to have been a

genuine advance on the superstitions that

gun

to supplant,

stances

it

it

had be-

and under more favorable circum-

might have been a stepping-stone

to

a

genuine enlightenment by the removal of old prejudices

and

The Prophet

and the reformation of morals.

his followers received a

supply of provisions and

returned to the Tippecanoe, leaving the governor

doubt tile

as to

whether the new

sect really

in

had any hos-

intentions toward the United States.

Harrison

believed afterward that the Indian seer had played

him

false in

this

movement, and that

this display of

piety was a mere ruse to allay his fears and put him off his Gfuard.

CHAPTER

XVI.

PLANS AND CHARACTER OF TECUMSEH. In

these events

all

Tecumseh stood

in

the back-

ground, while the Prophet seemed to be the leader.

So much was

this

so that, at the time, the Prophet

was supposed by the white people, including the governor and President Jefferson himself, to be the sole

mover of

this

excitement

among

the Indian tribes.

shown

in

Tecumseh's

greatness

than

ability to wait.

his

in

is

consciousness of talents

And

of his brother.

ing fame and

far

nothing

He must

more

have had a

transcending

the craft

yet he quietly saw the grow-

When

influence of the latter.

the

time came he asserted his ascendency, and turned

even the Prophet's fame and power to his own purpose, which

was a

of Tenskwatawa

far less practicable

—being

nothing

less

one than that than the for-

mation of a vast confederacy of the Indian tribes to the white race within limits, or,

restrain

to

force

It

was

in

them

to

retreat

his failure

to

if

possible,

beyond the Alleghanies. estimate the resources

of

the whites and the relative persistency of civiliza-

TECUMSEH.

152 tion

and savagery that the weakness of the Indian

mind shows

itself.

But the scheme of Tecumseh should be judged from his

own

standpoint.

He had

thrown under liarmar and mishes besides. combinations succeed

in

And

among

seen the whites over-

St. Clair,

and

that too without

the Indians.

bringing together

all

in

many skir-

any very large

If

now he

could

the Indians, so that

the Southern border should be harassed at the same

time that the Western border was being overwhelmed, there seemed to

Tecumseh a

great likelihood that the

whites could be finally defeated and brought to sue for peace at the

We this

hands of the Indians.

cannot give Tecumseh credit for originality in

The

scheme.

had planned a had

allied

lish,

as

idea was an old one with energetic Pontiac, before Tecumseh's birth,

Indian warriors.

similar rising against the whites,

and

himself with the French against the Eng-

Tecumseh

after this

formed an

the English against the Americans.

alliance with

But with the

Tippecanoe chieftain originated the idea of making use of religious fanaticism and superstition as a motive

to

union and action.

Tecumseh prophecy lacking in

and as

a

his ruse.

It

brother

is

hardly likely that

deliberately

adopted

Tenskwatawa, indolent and

courage, was inferior in the hunt and on

the battle-field.

What more

natural than that his

PLANS OF TECUMSEH.

53

ascendency of another

crafty spirit should seek an

kind,

I

and that the death of

his

predecessor, the

Prophet Change-of-Feathers, should have suggested

That he soon came

the means.

mission are

is

not unlikely.

common

It

Such

to believe in his

own

cases of self-delusion

enough.

seems probable that Tecumseh, ambitious of

military fame, and desirous of leading a larger

than the small

company about him, saw

band

in the flock-

ing of the tribes to the preaching of his brother the

opportunity he desired.

From

step to step his im-

agination rose to his large scheme, which was not to

form a temporary

by Pontiac and

such as had been sought

others, but a great

— an

confederation

alliance,

and permanent

empire of red men, of which he

should be the leader and emperor.

To

He

this

end he fostered

brother's

his

influence.

raised the Prophet to the highest position

and

his followers, for him,

as

added much

among

affected always the greatest respect

though he were a superior being, and to his brother's

presence and influence

power by

his

own noble

over the minds of

But though the Prophet seemed

to govern,

ruled with a quiet but imperious

will.

others.

Tecumseh

It is

probable

that he distrusted the Prophet's judgment, for,

Tenskwatawa

is

said to

though

have been a more pleasing

speaker even than Tecumseh, 7*

it

was rarely the case

TECUMSEH.

154 that he uttered a

was

word

in council

when Tecumseh

present.

Tecumseh was mind

His

despotic, but not a tyrant.

was large, foreseeing the probable destruction

of the Indian tribes through the force of civilization.

He was man

largely patriotic

— loving

all

advancement.

in battle,

a red

red people and working for their

He was

possessing a strong

brave

— not a Shawnee, but

a remarkable leader of men,

over them

influence

calm and dignified

acknowledging no man as

;

he was

every presence,

in

his superior

by

the slightest

action,

and fond of a certain regal dignity without

pomp

but he was never

;

vengeful to those

who were

Tecumseh never allowed

He

"

was near

known

to

be cruel or re-

helpless in his power. his portrait to

be painted.

six feet in stature, with a compact,

muscular frame, capable of great physical endurance. His head was of a moderate full

and

and high,

size,

with a forehead

his nose slightly aquiline, teeth large

and overhung

regular, eyes black, penetrating,

with heavy arched brows, which increased the uni-

formly grave and severe expression of his countenance. to

He

is

represented

by

those

who knew him

have been a remarkably fine-looking man, always

plain but neat in his dress,

and of a commanding

personal presence."

An

English writer on the war of

1

8 1 2 says

that

CHARACTER OF TECUMSEH. " with

Tccumseh was endowed stoutness,

and possessed

more than the usual His carriage was dig-

eyes penetrating, his countenance, even in

death, giving indications of a lofty

dians in general are the

spoil

their persons, but

had often been

quently levied subsidies to

amount, yet he preserved It

In-

Tecumseh

Clothes and other valuable his,

arti-

yet he invariably

He had

wore a deer-skin coat and pantaloons.

self

The

spirit.

as fond as other savages of

full

gaudy decoration of

was an exception. cles of

55

the agility and perseve-

all

rance of the Indian character. nified, his

I

fre-

comparatively a large

httle or

nothing for him-

was not wealth but glory that was Tecum

seh's ruling passion."

There are two

stories

with regard to the marriage

of Tecumseh, one being that he was married to several wives,

but never to more than one at a time

while the other latter

of

is

is

that he

had but one

probably the truth, for

men who knew him

all

it

his

is

The

wife.

on the testimony

life.

His marriage

took place at the age of twenty-eight, and was in

compliance with the wishes of his

friends.

Mamate, was older than

and seems to have

himself,

His

wife,

been a mediocre person, both physically and mentally.

Tecumseh's only child was a son named Pugeshashenwa, which means " A-panther-scizing-its-prcy."

Mamate

died soon after his birth, and he was

left

to

TECUMSEH.

156

the care of his aunt, Tecumsch's beloved

sister,

Te~

cumapease.

An

j

intelligent

Shawnee Avho knew Tecumsch from

childhood states that " he was kind and attentive to

com-

the aged and infirm, looking personally to their repairing their

fort,

wigwams

frail

vv^hen

winter ap-

proached, giving them skins for moccasins and cloth-

and sharing with them the choicest game which

ing,

Nor were

the woods and the seasons afforded. acts of kindness

these

bestowed exclusively on those of

rank or reputation.

On

the contrary, he

made

it

his

business to search out the humblest objects of charity

and

in

a quiet, unostentatious manner relieve their

wants." "

From

the earliest period of his

the Indian agents

who had

life,"

says one of

a great deal to do v/ith

him, " Tecumseh was distinguished for virtue, for a strict

adherence to truth, honor, and

integrity.

was sober and abstemious, never indulging

He

in

the

among

the

use of liquor or eating to excess."

A

man who

lived nearly twenty years

Indians as a prisoner, part of the time in Tecumseh's family, says, "

that gained

I

him

know

of no peculiarity about

popularity.

Plis

talents,

of deportment, and friendly disposition

the respect and regard of

consider

him

,

all

about him.

him

rectitude

commanded In short,

I

a very great as well a very good man,

CHARACTER OF TECUMSEH.

1

5/

who, had he enjoyed the advantages of a hberal education, would have done honor to any age or nation."

Benjamin Drake, "

When

from

in his

hfe of

Tecumseh, says

Burns, the poet, was suddenly transferred

his plow, in Ayrshire, to the polished circles of

Edinburgh,

his ease of

manners and nice observance

of the rules of good breeding excited

much

surprise

and became the theme of frequent conversation.

The same thing has been remarked of Tecumseh. Whether seated at the tables of Generals McArthur and Worthington, Chillicothe

in

as

1807,

he was during the council at or

brought

in

British officers of the highest rank, his

contact

from vulgarity and coarseness

entirely free

with

manners were he was

;

uniformly self-possessed and with the tact and ease of

deportment which marked the poet of the heart, and

which are zation

falsely

and

supposed to be the result of

refinement only.

He

readily

dated himself to the novelties of his

civili-

accommo-

new

position,

and seemed more amused than annoyed by them."

We his

can never

scheme

know

for a

just

when Tecumseh formed

union of the red men, to

offset

the .union of the "Seventeen Fires" of the whites;

but the plan

ernment his

now began

in various

ways.

to

reveal itself to the gov-

Operations so extensive as

could not long be entirely hidden.

He had been

TECUMSEH.

158 for

some time engaged

trying

duce them

to join

and

in visiting various tribes

by the power of

his masterful oratory to in-

For

confederacy.

his

at

least

three or four years he traveled almost ceaselessly for

the accomplishment of his purpose.

time away up

among

He was

at

one

the lakes in the remotest part

of the old Indiana Territory; at another time he was

moving through the South; and was

in that

travels of

came time.

to

What

Tecumseh

is

still

unknown world

then almost

the Mississippi.

at

lying beyond

we have

history

in the

another he

of these

merest scraps, such as

the knowledge of the whites from time to

Tirelessly he journeyed through the wilder-

ness, eloquently

he labored with

his red

brethren,

returning often to his headquarters, where the Pro-

phet reigned in his absence.

CHAPTER

XVII.

FORMATION OF TECUMSEH'S CONFEDERACY. Until

i8io,

Tecumseh seemed

strengthening his influence

out distinctly announcing

Early

in

among

be quietly

to

the tribes with-

his ultimate purpose.

by Captain

the year 1809, accompanied

Lewis, a well-known Shawnee

chief,

he attended a

Here he

council of Indians held at Sandusky. to persuade the

Wyandots and Senccas

Among

his settlement at Tippecanoe.

tried

remove

to

to

other induce-

ments, he said that the country on this river was better than

ther

what they now occupied, that

removed from the

whites,

it

however, had a suspicion that Tecumseh

meant something more than he

said,

and

their ex-

perience in Wayne's campaign had given

wholesome States.

fur-

The wary

have more game and be happier there. Indians,

was

and that they would

fear

of

rashly

The Crane, an

offending

old chief of the

them

the

a

United

Wyandots,

answered, " that he feared Tecumseh was working for

no good purpose

at

Tippecanoe

wait a few years, and then

if

;

that they

would

they found their red

TECUMSEH.

l60

brethren at that time contented and happy, they

would probably

join them."

In April, 1809, the United States agent at Fort

Wayne to

informed Governor Harrison

reports,

that,

according

the Indians had been required

by

the

Prophet to take up arms against the government,

to

exterminate the inhabitants of Vincennes and of the settlements along the Ohio

the Great Spirit,

who

disobeyed.

who It

;

this

being the order of

threatened destruction to those

was

Chip-

also reported that the

pewas, Pottawatomies, and Ottawas were deserting

Whether

the Prophet in consequence of this order. this

was true or

Tecumseh's

not,

and whether

in

any case

was

plan, or only an ambitious undertaking

of the Prophet's in Tecumseh's absence,

The

it

is

not known.

agent said that there were not more than a hun-

dred warriors remaining with the Prophet

;

but the

Governor had information that there were within fifty

miles of his headquarters four or five times that

number who were

his

devoted followers.

Harrison

immediately organized two companies of volunteer militia with

which he garrisoned Fort Knox, which

was situated within two miles of Vincennes.

If

there had been any warlike purpose on the part of

the Prophet, this

show of

force put a stop to

Indians do not often strike an guard.

enemy who

it,

for

stands on

FORMATION OF THE CONFEDERACY.

l6l

In July, the Prophet and about forty followers visited Vincennes, at that time the capital of the terri-

He meekly

tory and the residence of the governor.

denied any part

combination to attack the

the

in

He

white settlements.

claimed, indeed, that the plot

was

entirely confined to the tribes of the Mississippi

and

Illinois Rivers,

and that he had dissuaded them

from their intended

hostilities.

Governor Harrison was not again

ceived

by

the

my

he

Prophet's plausibility, for

writes to the Secretary of that

to be so easily de-

War

:

suspicions of his guilt

"I must

confess

have been rather

strengthened than diminished at every interview

have had with him since

He

his arrival.

I

acknowl-

edges that he received an invitation to war against us from the British, last

fall,

and that he was apprised

of the intention of the Sacs and Foxes, &c., early in the spring, and

was warmly

tion of his neglecting to

stances so Avhich tion,

I

to

solicited

But he could give no

league.

communicate

extremely interesting

to

to us,

me

and received a solemn assurance of

upon him.

with the

The

ject is that the

British intrigue

injunctions

result of all late

and

my

I

circum-

and towards

had a few months before directed

compliance

join their

satisfactory explana-

his atten-

his cheerful

had impressed

inquiries

on the sub-

combination was produced by influence, in anticipation of

war

TECUMSEH.

l62

with the United States. ture and ill-judged.

armed

.

.

It was,

however, prema-

The

warlike and well-

.

tribes of the Pottawatomies, Ottawas,

was, Delawares, and Miamis,

nor would have joined

I

in the

Chippe-

had

believe, neither

combination

;

and

al-

though the Kickapoos, whose warriors are better than those of any other

Wyandots excepted, of

the Prophet,

I

tribe,

much under

are

am

the remnant of the

persuaded

the influence

that

they were

never made acquainted with his intentions,

were

really hostile

In

at a

1809,

if

they

toward the United States." council

at

Greenville,

Governor

Harrison purchased a large tract of land lying on the east of the

Wabash River from

the Indian owners

—

the Miami, Eel River, Delaware, and Pottawatomie

He

tribes.

who

made

also

a treaty with the Kickapoos,

confirmed the grant and sold another large piece

When

of land.

Harrison invited

he made these

all

treaties,

Governor

Indians to be present

who were

considered to have any claim to the land.

By

April, 18 10, there

the part of the

and the Prophet were States.

A

was a general conviction on

whites that the plans of

trader

Tecumseh

really hostile to the

who had been

for

United

some time

at

Tippecanoe informed Governor Harrison that there were

at least

dred men,

in

one thousand that place

souls,

perhaps four hun-

under the control

of the

FORMATION OF THE CONFEDERACY. Prophet.

was plain that there was strong

63

hostile

toward the government among these Indians.

feeling

They

It

1

refused to

buy any ammunition from American

traders, saying that

they had a plentiful supply, and

intimated that they could get more from the English

without paying for

About

it.

the middle of

May, the governor was

in-

formed that the Prophet's followers amounted to six or eight hundred men, and that this force

was probable that

it

could be doubled from those tribes over

which the Prophet had

All this led to

influence.

much

fear for the safety of the small,

ments

in Indiana.

A

large meeting of Indians

on the

St.

Joseph's River.

exposed

was held

To

this

settle-

at this

time

meeting Gover-

nor Harrison sent an appeal through the Delawares, pointing out the inevitable destruction of those tribes

who

should take up the hatchet against their fathers,

and the great danger to the friendly

tribes

through

the difficulty of distinguishing friend from foe.

The Prophet now succeeded sessed great influence bers of

it

being

their talents

and

in

gaining the

Wyan-

This nation had alwaj-s pos-

dots over to his side.

among

the Indians, the

called " uncles," valor.

The

mem-

and venerated

for

great belt, which had

been the symbol of union between the

tribes in their

previous war, was committed to the care of this

tribe.

1

TECUMSEH.

64

They

also possessed the original

The

Greenville.

copy of the treaty of

negotiations between this tribe and

the Prophet are a good example of Indian diplomacy.

The Prophet

sent a deputation to

them saying

that

he was surprised that the Wyandots, who had always directed the councils of the Indians, in consequence of their talents

and bravery, should

sit

still

and see the

property of the Indians usurped by a part. Flattered

by

this

message, the Wyandots answered

that they had carefully preserved the belt which

merly united the Indians they

said,

one nation.

as

had remained so long

without being called

They

forgotten.

for,

This

belt,

in their possession

that they supposed

it

was

assured the Prophet that they were

glad, however, that at

last

their hearts than

As

was wanted.

it

themselves, they were tired of the situation

was nearer

for-

;

for

nothing

the union of the tribes

They looked upon everything

again as one man.

that had been done since the treaty of Greenville as

nothing

;

that they

would join with the Prophet

endeavoring to bring together

all

in

the tribes for the

purpose of stopping the encroachments of the white people, and recovering that which

had been unjustly

taken from them.

This answer was exactly according to the wishes of the Prophet. all

He

immediately circulated

the Indian nations, and

it

it

among

proved a powerful

in-

FORMATION OF THE CONFEDERACY,

The Wyan-

fluence in favor of Tecumseh's scheme.

dots soon started to

make

way they held They showed chiefs. their

165

On

a visit to Tippecanoe.

a conference with the

Miami

the great belt, and reproached

the Miamis with having united

against their Indian friends.

intimidated that they joined

with

the

whites

The Miamis were so the Wyandots on their

journey to the Prophet's Town, inviting the

Weas

to

go with them.

An

old

Piankishaw Indian named Grosble, who

was very much attached

to

Governor Harrison and

to the United States, asked at this time permission to

move beyond

the Mississippi, saying that he had

heard nothing but rumors of war

and

as

he would not engage

of danger.

He

told

it

among

the Indians,

he wished to be out

the governor that which he

heard from other sources to attack Vincennes,

in

— that the Prophet intended

and boasted that he would follow

the footsteps of the great Pontiac.

The governor had Prophet's

Town, by

stationed a person as spy at the

whom

he was now informed that

there were about three thousand

men

within thirty

who carried on a great deal of secret counseling, and who were at least resolved to prevent the survey of any land west of the Wabash miles of this place,

River.

In June, a boat was sent up the

Wabash

with

salt

TECUMSEH.

l66

The Promen who

for the Indians, as part of their annuities.

phet refused to receive the

brought

it

and the

salt,

were treated rudely and told to go back

to Vincennes.

About

when the salt was refused, the inTecumseh was among the Shawnees on

the time

defatigable

the Auglaize

among

or

;

his

own

duce them to join to

go

new

but the

leader was without hon-

people.

He

tried in vain to in-

scheme, but they even refused

his

into council with him.

The Shawnee

chiefs

on

the Auglaize had received a letter from Governor

Harrison some months previous to Tecumseh's val,

which no doubt had something This

peaceful disposition.

letter

to

arri-

do with their

Tecumseh took from

from the hand of the interpreter and scornfully

threw

it

into

the

fire,

declaring

that

if

Governor

Harrison were present he would serve him

in the

same way.

He

told the Indians that the white people

deceiving them

;

that for his

put any confidence

in

part he

the whites.

He

said that

he were dead the cause would not die with him.

he went away much

among

chief.

with his

ill

if

But

success

the Shawnees.

Tecumseh owed part,

dissatisfied

were

would never

his failure with this tribe in great

no doubt, to the influence of the great Shawnee Black Hoof

This Indian had been born

in

FORMATION OF THE CONFEDERACY. Florida,

and was old enough

moval of

Ohio

his nation to

the salt water of the ocean.

6/

1

at the time of the re-

to

remember bathing

He had

in

been present at

the defeat of Braddock, in 1755, during the French and

English war, and had been very actively engaged in all

Wayne's

the wars in Ohio until It is said that his

dians.

treaty with the In-

wisdom and energy

in

the

planning and executing of his military expeditions

was so great that he was never fight

under his

at a loss for braves to

lead.

Black Hoof had been the orator of his tribe during most of his

life,

and had fought bravely

in the

vain hope of staying the tide of white emigration to the valley of the Mississippi. defeat of the Indians

by

wise

all

after the disastrous

by Wayne, the

the experience of years,

of the futility of

He

But

old chief,

grown

became convinced

attempts to drive back the whites.

signed the treaty of Greenville, and from that

time actively opposed

all

war with the

settlers.

As

he was the head chief of the Shawnee nation, the influence of his office and of his personal

gave him a great ascendency

character

in the councils of his

people.

Every persuasion was brought

Hoof

seh on Black

but

all failed

tribe

;

remained

to induce

him

to bear

by Tecum-

to join his

scheme,

the chief and the greater part of his faithful

to the treaty of Greenville.

1

TECUMSEH.

68

In the war which

succeeded between the

was firmly attached

States and Great Britain, he

the American cause,

United

akhough he took no

to

active part

in the conflict.

Like Tecumseh,

polygamy and to

have lived

this

great chief was opposed to

the burning of prisoners. for forty years

He

is

said

with one wife, and to

have raised a large family of children, who loved and respected

and

He was

him.

sprightly

of a

conversation.

in

small, being about five

rather height.

He

cheerful

disposition

Black

Hoof was

feet eight inches in

died at Wapakonetta, Ohio, in

the age of one hundred and his death his health

ten.

Up

was good and

1831, at

to the time of

his eyesight un-

dimmed. Governor Harrison was

visited in

tation of Pottawatomie Indians,

June by a depu-

headed by the chief

Winnemac, to inform him of the result of the council held at the

St.

Joseph's of Lake Michigan.

been attended by the Delawarcs,

all

It

who were

to

had

and by

the neighboring Indians,

have gone there

for the

purpose of dissuading the Indians from joining the Prophet.

This they succeeded

nemac was

knew

in doing,

and Win-

sent to inform the governor of

of the Prophet's plans,

exertion was to be

made on

all

they

which was that every

the part of the Prophet's

party to induce the trans- Mississippi tribes to join

FORMATION OF THE CONFEDERACY, the

confederacy

Chicago,

St.

prised.

It

;

69

and that Detroit, Fort Wayne,

Louis, and Vincennes were

all

to

be sur-

was reported that the Prophet had even

suggested to his young

men

the

murder of some of

the neighboring chiefs in order that their

might be

1

free to carry

own hands

forward their purposes, 8

CHAPTER

XVIII.

EXECUTION OF LEATHERLIPS FOR WITCHCRAFT.

On

the evening of the

andots, equipped

in the

first

day of June,

six

Wy-

most warhke manner, ap-

peared at the house of a white

man on

near where the city of Columbus, Ohio,

the Scioto,

now

stands.

They were much agitated, and inquired after an old Wyandot chief named Leatherlips, whom they had

When

been seeking.

camped two

miles further up the river, they immedi-

ately started

A

they found that he was en-

saying they intended to

off,

Mr. John Sells was told of the

dians the next morning, and lips'

He came upon

camp.

were headed,

it is

visit

kill

him.

of the In-

started off for Leather-

the six warriors,

who

believed, by the chief Roundhead,

seated in council in a grove of sugar maples a short distance

from Leatherlips' lodge.

with his

arms

their midst. sent,

and

a

A

old

chief,

few white neighbors were also pre-

sullen

and

gloomy

been Leatherlips' companion,

Going up

The

tied with a slight cord, sat calmly in

to the

Indian,

who had

sat apart in the

Indians, Mr. Sells found

camp.

them

in

EXECUTION OF LEATHERLIPS. They were

earnest debate.

trying the white-haired

With

Leatherlips for witchcraft

by some of

previously charged

who beheved they had through

lost

he had been

this

the Indians present,

some of

their friends

his evil powers.

For two or three hours the council accusers spoke with

very

171

much ceremony, but

The

bitterly.

lasted.

prisoner answered

The

evidently

eloquently,

but without passion, occasionally smiling disdainfully.

The

council was closed with a sentence

Some

of the white

The

execution.

men

of death.

inquired as to the time of the

captain of the accusers pointed to

Mr. Sells asked him

the sun, indicating one o'clock.

what Leatherlips had done.

"Very bad Indian sick chief"

;

"make good

Indian," answered he;

make horse

sick

;

make

die

;

very bad

Mr. Sells tried to induce the white

men

to

interfere for the safety of the chief, but

they refused,

fearing the results of Indian animosity

on

He

protected settlements. the

life

of Leatherlips with a very fine horse, worth

three hundred dollars. at

first,

their un-

then tried to purchase

but

after a

This staggered the Indians

long council their fanatical zeal

triumphed, and the offer was refused. After the close of the council, five of the Indians

amused themselves with ning, jumping,

etc.

athletic sports,

In these,

such as run-

Roundhead took no

TECUMSEH.

1/2 part.

He now indicated

his

the hour of four as the time

Leatherlips then walked

of execution.

slowly to

camp, ate a dinner of jerked venison, washed and

dressed himself in his best apparel, which was very rich,

and

He

requested that the

him

him a very impressive

gray hair gave

ure and

His graceful

finally painted his face.

at the lodge.

had exerted himself

fig-

look.

company should draw around

He had

noticed that Mr. Sells

for him,

and now handed him a

paper, which was a recommendation from Governor Hull.

This paper was read to the company and

He

then fixed to a tree at the prisoner's desire.

shook hands

silently with the

on coming

Mr. Sells he grasped

to

whole company, but his

hand warmly,

spoke a few words in the Wyandot tongue, and

He

pointed to the sky.

then turned, and, in a voice

of wonderful strength and melody, began chanting his death-song.

He was followed by the

six warriors,

keeping time to the wild melancholy dirge with their slow steps. procession.

The white men

At about

also silently

they came upon a shallow grave. able Leatherlips kneeled to the Great Spirit.

from the

leader.

fell

into this

eighty yards from the

camp

Here the vener-

down and solemnly prayed

This was followed by a prayer

Mr. Sells

now

told

him

that

if

he

did this deed he ought at least to go beyond the limits of the white settlements.

EXECUTION OF LEATIIERLIPS. "

No

"

pleasure this

he answered sternly and

!

" no

;

bad man

good Indian

good Indian

!

;

mouth give

'fraid fire

-with

I73

much

dis-

he no go with

;

in the

dark night

he no go."

'fraid;

Mr. Sells reluctantly gave up the old man's cause.

Up

to

time

this

there

no weapon

was

visible.

Lcatherlips again sank on his knees and prayed as before.

In this position he remained, after he had

finished praying, until the fatal

blow was struck, with

a tomahawk suddenly drawn from beneath the blanket of the leader. Leatherlips, in

all his

rich clothing

and decorations,

was then buried, and the executioners returned

as

they had come. This execution

believed to

is

have taken place

It is thought that the by order of the Prophet. six Wyandots came immediately from Tippecanoe to

the banks of the Scioto. of

Whether

or not motives

policy dictated the charge of witchcraft against

Lcatherlips,

we do

not know.

that the hostile chiefs

with terror

movement

all

It is

quite possible

now found it needful to strike who held aloof from their

those leaders

CHAPTER

XIX.

MEETING OF HARRISON AND TECUMSEH AT VINCENNES. In the month of June, iSio, Governor Harrison sent

two

more

One

confidential agents to

fully if possible the

Tippecanoe to discover

designs of

the Prophet.

of these agents, a Mr. Dubois, was

He

kindly.

told the Prophet that

had sent him

to find out

United States.

He

Governor Harrison

what was the reason of

and

preparations

warlike

received

enmity against

his

told the Prophet that his

his

the

move-

ments had so alarmed the white people that warriors in

Kentucky and Indiana were arming themselves,

but that the Governor wished him to say that

was only

made

his intentions.

tend to

and

make

that

him

until there

was no more doubt of

The Prophet

said that he did not in-

war, that he had been unjustly accused,

he was fixed

commands him

and that no attempt should be

for defence,

against

this,

in that

place

of the Great Spirit.

by

the express

The agent urged

to state his complaints against the government.

The Prophet

that

replied

cheated of their lands

;

the

Indians

had

that a sale to be valid

been

must be

MEETING AT VINCENNES. by

sanctioned

all

the tribes.

that he ought to

go

1

Mr. Dubois told him

Vincennes and present

to

75

his

complaints to the governor.

The Prophet

declined doing

had been badly treated on Dubois

fearful that

in

Mr.

visit.

and Eel River out,

tribes.

and that

it.

the 4th of July, four canoes

of the

One

former

war would break

they would be involved

On

Wea

also visited the

They were

his

saying that he

this,

filled

with some

Prophet's followers descended the Wabash. canoes,

of these

came down

as

containing some

Kickapoos,

low as a settlem.ent above Vincennes,

where they stopped and attended a Shaker meeting on Sunday. their

After this act of piety they

Sabbath by stealing

A few days visiting the

told

five horses in the night.

a party of Indians

later,

wound up

who had been

Sac and Fox Indians on the Mississippi,

Governor Harrison that these

tribes

had taken up

the hatchet and said they were ready to act with the

Prophet whenever he should that a

Miami

chief,

who had been on

to the English post supplies,

"

My

desire.

at

Maiden,

It

was

also said

his annual visit

after

receiving his

was addressed thus by the English agent son,

keep your eyes fixed on me.

now up

tomahawk

is

strike

give the signal."

till I

;

:

Tvly

be you ready, but do not

Governor Harrison sent a confidential agent, Mr.

TECUMSEH.

176 Baron, with a

letter to

When

Tippecanoe.

mes-

this

Town he was received He was first conducted

senger reached the Prophet's

very dramatic fashion.

in

ceremoniously to the place where the Prophet, sur-

rounded by a number of Indians, was he was

left

Here

seated.

standing at the distance of about ten feet "

from the Indian prophet.

He

looked at me," said

Mr. Baron, " for several minutes, without speaking

knew

or making any sign of recognition, although he

me

At

well.

last

he spoke, apparently

in anger.

'For what purpose do you come here?' *

Brouilette was here

here

;

;

he was a spy.

There

too are a spy.

he was a spy.

Now is

I

!

look on

ground near the

to the

have been accustomed

to

to check his brother's fondness for stage acting,

came out of one him

now

of the lodges, greeted Mr. Baron

that his

was

life

in

asked him to state the object of his then read the following " William

!

it

stood."

Tecumseh, who seems

coldly, told

he.

You

have come.

your grave

The Prophet then pointed spot where

yoii

said

Dubois was

Henry

letter

no danger, and

visit.

Mr. Baron

:

Harrison, Governor and

Com-

mander-in-chief of the Territory of Indiana, to the

Shawnee noe

:

chief

and the Indians assembled

at

Tippeca-

Notwithstanding the improper language which

you have used towards me,

I will

endeavor to open

MEETING AT VINCENNES. your eyes

your true

to

what white men have

You ought

sonal enemy.

manner

in

which

I

to

I

77

Notwithstanding

interests.

told you,

1

am

know

not your perthis

received and treated

from

the

you on your

visit to this place.

"

Although

I

must say that you are an enemy

to

the Seventeen Fires, and

that

you have used the

greatest exertions to lead

them

[the Indians] astray.

In this you have been in some measure successful as

I

am

they are ready to

told,

raise the

;

tomahawk

against their father, yet their father, notwithstanding his

anger

their folly,

at

always ready to receive

who

children

their fault,

"

There

are

and ask is

into his

to

willing

The

little

pends on you

repent,

is

his

acknowledge

harm done, which may be

chain of friendship which united

the whites with the Indians as strong as ever.

arms those of

his forgiveness.

yet but

easily repaired.

of goodness, and

full

is

A

may

be renewed, and be

great deal of that

— the destiny of those who

work deare under

your direction depends upon the choice you

may

make

The

one

of the two roads which are before you.

is

large, open, and pleasant, and leads to peace,

and

security, trary,

happiness

;

the

other,

on the con-

narrow and crooked, and leads to misery

is

and

ruin.

that

all

Don't deceive yourselves

;

do not believe

the nations of Indians united are able to rc-

8*

TECUMSEH.

1/8 sist

the force of the Seventeen Fires.

I

know your

warriors are brave, but ours are not less

But

so.

what can a few brave warriors do against the numerable warriors of the Seventeen Fires

more numerous than you can count

blue-coats are

our hunters are

like the leaves of the forest, or the

grains of sand on the

you

the red-coats can protect

war with

moons

What Fires

If

us.

see our flag

Do

Wabash. ;

not think that

they are not able

They do not

to protect themselves. to

think of going

they did, you would

wave over

all

in a

few

the forts of Canada.

reason have you to complain of the Seventeen ?

Have they taken anything from you treaties made with

they ever violated the

men

in-

Our

?

?

Have

the

red

You say they have purchased lands from who had no right to sell them. Show that this those Show is true and the land will be instantly restored. ?

us the rightful owners. this business

;

but

if

I

have

full

power

to arrange

you would rather carry your

complaints before your great father, the President,

you

shall

means

be indulged.

I

will

immediately take

to send you, with those chiefs that

choose, to the city where your father

lives.

you may Every-

thing necessary shall be prepared for your journey,

and means taken

for

your

safe return."

The Prophet made no answer promised to send Tecumseh

to this speech,

but

to visit the governor.

MEETING AT VINCENNES.

much

Mr. Baron had however.

He

1

79

conversation with Tccumseh,

said that

he did not intend to make

war, but he solemnly declared that

it

was impossible

remain friends with the United States unless they

to

would give up the idea of making settlements further

and west, and would acknowledge the

to the north

property of "

all

Indian

The Great

tribes.

said

Spirit,"

Tecumseh,

great island to his red children

on the other

common

Western country was the

principle that the

;

"

gave

this

he placed the whites

side of the big water.

They were not

contented with their own, but came to take ours from

They have

us.

we can go no

driven us from the sea to the lakes

They have taken upon them

further.

to say this tract belongs to the Miamis, this the Dela-

wares, and so on

the

common

that

we have no

but the Great Spirit intended

;

business

belongs to other tribes us to

come

;

said,

man

sitting

but the Great Spirit ordered will stay."

however, that he was

He had

remembered him

by the

as

us

— the land

with the governor's speech. see him, but he

it

tells

all.

and here we

here,

Tecumseh

Our father upon the Wabash

property of

side of General

as

much

pleased

never been to a very

Wayne.

young

He had

never troubled the white people much, he said, but

he would now go to Vincennes and show the governor that he had been listening to bad men,

when he

I

TECUMSEH.

So

was

told that they meditated

war against the United

States.

From

we gather

Mr. Baron's report

satisfaction

and jealousy had arisen

that

in the

some

dis-

Prophet's

paradise at Tippecanoe, probably through the unv/ise over-boastfulness of the seer with regard to his divine

A

power.

Pottawatomie chief told Baron,

in

the

Prophet's presence, that he had promised them that there should be no

more deaths

at his town, but that

three Kickapoos had been buried in as

The Prophet

days.

did not understand what the chief said,

and asked Baron it

many

to repeat

it.

When

he heard what

was, he said that the Pottawatomie had lied, for no

one had "

I

died.

will

not say," the chief answered, with Indian

sarcasm, "that any have died, but

promised that none should

die,

and

I

know

I

have seen three

bodies buried within three days; but they

that

you

may have

been dogs or persons long since dead, who have been taken up to be buried over again."

Tecumseh

told Mr.

Baron that he would probably

men to Vincenncs with were fond of attending men young

bring thirty of his principal him, and as the

on such occasions, there would probably be a hundred

in

all.

The Prophet added

pect to see a great

many more

that they might ex-

than

that.

This idea did not please the governor, and he sent

MEETING AT VINCENNES.

l8l

an Indian messenger requesting that but a few should attend

Tecumsch on

his visit.

Tecumseh, however, descended the Wabash on the

1

of August,

2th

armed with

their

commander

at

with

hundred warriors,

four

tomahawks.

Captain Floyd, the

Fort Knox, describes the passing of

this chief in a letter, thus:

"Nothing new has transpired to

they passed

all

in

last,

painted in the most

were stopped

examined

pared

which

this garrison,

Vincennes, on Sunday

were

I

my

since

last letter

you except that the Shawnee Indians have come

for

at the garrison

in

case

;

three miles above

eighty canoes.

They They

terrific

manner.

by me,

for a short time.

and found them well pre-

their canoes,

war

is

of an

They were

attack.

headed by the brother of the Prophet, Tecumseh,

who perhaps saw

— about

features,

The

is

one of the

looking

finest

six feet high, straight, with

men

them

will

ever

large, fine

and altogether a daring, bold looking

governor's council with

I

fellow.

commence

to-

morrow morning." In this council, Harrison and trusted the other's

good

had intended that

it

of his

own

Tecumseh each

faith at first.

dis-

The governor

should be held on the portico

house, which was fitted up with seats for

the purpose.

Here he placed

the judges of the

himself, attended

Supreme Court, some

by

officers of the

TECUMSEH.

182

army, a sergeant with twelve

and a large number of

men from Fort Knox, At the time ap-

citizens.

who was encamped outside of the appeared with forty warriors. He approached

pointed, Tecumseh,

town,

within thirty or forty rods, and stopped.

Governor

Harrison sent out an interpreter to request him and his followers to take seats

refused to do

this,

on the

Tecumseh

portico.

saying he did not think

it

a proper

place to hold the council, and that he preferred a

grove of trees which stood a short distance from the house.

The governor answered

jection to there.

that he

had no ob-

the grove, but that there were no seats

Tecumseh

replied that

it

would only be ne-

cessary to bring out chairs enough to accommodate the white men, saying, "

on her bosom

earth

is

my mother,

and '

will

The governor were removed

The

'>

I

repose."

yielded the point, chairs and benches

to the grove, but the Indians, accord-

ing to their habit, sat upon the grass.

As Tecumseh's

speech on

this occasion

is

markable, indicating his modes of thought, passages from " Brother

:

it

I

as follows

wish you to

I will

explain

we

give

:

listen to

me

it

" Brother, since the peace

again.

As

well.

think you do not clearly understand what said to you,

very re-

I

I

i

before

\

...

was made, you have

killed

some of the Shawnees, Winncbagocs, Dclawares, and

MEETING AT VINCENNES.

1

Miamis, and you have taken our land from

do not see how we can remain tinue to do so.

do some to

if

you that arc pushing them on

You endeavor

make

to

distinctions.

them

—

common

aside

and

and

let

them consider

property of the whole

and advise them not

until

our design

The

dent.

is

reason

distinctions of Indian

we wish

their lands as

you take

;

into this

tribes

measure

accomplished we do not wish

tell

I

come

to

your invitation

to accept of

you con-

try to force the red people to

is

wish to prevent the Indians doing as

the

I

It

You

to unite,

and

us,

You

injury.

do mischief

peace

at

83

to

you

go and see the Presi-

this,

tribes

you want, by your

allotting to each

in

a

make them to war with You never see an Indian come and enmake the white people do so. You are

particular tract of land, to

each other.

deavor

to

continually driving the red people

you

when,

;

at

last,

drive them into the Great Lake, where they

will

can't either stand or walk.

"Brother, you ought to with the Indians. President 10

bad at

thing,

know what you

Perhaps

make

it

is

by

those distinctions.

and we do not

like

it.

Since

Tippecanoe we have endeavored to

tinctions

—

chief

done.

is

to destroy village chiefs,

Americans. acted

by

It

Our

warriors.

is

they

object

is

who

sell

are doing

direction of the It

my

is

a very

residence

level all dis-

by whom

all

mis-

our lands to the

to let our affairs

be trans-

1

TECUMSEH.

84

" Brother, this land that was sold and the goods

that were given for

The

treaty was

were only done by a few.

it

afterwards brought

Weas were induced

The

small numbers.

their

and the

here,

to give their consent because of

Wayne

treaty at Fort

was made through the

threats of Winncmac but in we are prepared to punish those chiefs who may come forward to propose to sell the land. If ;

future

you continue

among what

we

was glad

I

to hear

that did

sell

up a

tribes set

us you

to

at

it

will

which

show

did not

be

all

am

do not know

your speech. You said

own

you would It

it.

it.

me

not

will

not restored

is

return to our homes,

have a great council,

when we

the tribes will be present,

who

restore

was me. These

If the land

We shall

settled.

to those

sold that they

and we

had no right

what

shall

to the

will

be

to those chiefs that did sell the land to you.

I

;

will see

not alone in this determination;

mination of to me. not,

sell,

when we

will see,

claim that they set up

done

last, I

claim, but the tribes with

agree with their claim.

how

produce war

could show that the land was sold by peo-

ple that had no right to

Those

will

it

be the consequence to the white people.

will

if

purchase of them

the different tribes, and at

"Brother, that

to

it

I

will

all

is

it

the deter-

the warriors and red people that listen

now wish you appear as

if

to listen to me.

you wished me

If

you do

to kill all the

MEETING AT VINCENNES. you the

chiefs that sold I

am

authorized by

the head of them

this

;

then

I

you the land and If

all

you do not

am

I

a warrior, and

85

because I

am the

all

two or three moons

in

will call for those chiefs that sold

know what

shall

restore the land,

you

do with them.

to

will

have a hand

them.

in killing-

" Brother,

do not believe that

presents from you. take.

;

j^ou so

I tell

the tribes to do so.

meet together

warriors will

from

all

land.

1

By

you

If

I

came here

we

offer us any,

to get

will

not

taking goods from you, you will hereafter

say that with them you purchased another piece of land from

us.

.

.

.

It

has been the object of

both myself and brother to prevent the lands being sold.

Should you not return the land,

casion us to call a great council that will

Huron

been lighted, be

where the

village,

called,

at

and

" Brother,

council-fire

will oc-

it

meet

at the

has already

which those who sold the lands

shall

I

shall suffer for their conduct.

wish you would take pity on the red

people and do what

I

have requested.

If

you

will

not give up the land and do cross the boundary of

your present settlement,

it

will

produce great troubles among

us.

confidence in the white people

?

came on cross.

earth,

you

killed

be very hard, and

How When

him and

You thought he was

can

Jesus Christ

nailed

dead, but

we have

him on a

you were mis-

1

TECUMSEH.

86

You have Shakers among

taken.

you,

laugh and make light of their worship. I

have said to you

to you.

that

.

.

.

birds

who

I

Spirit

speak nothing but the truth

Brother,

you ought not

The Great

the truth.

is

has inspired me, and

and you

Everything

to

hope you

I

will confess

have listened to those bad

bring you bad news.

myself freely to you, and

if

have declared

I

any explanation should

be required from our town, send a man who can

you think proper

any

speak to

us.

presents,

and we can be convinced that they are

If

we

given through friendship alone,

As we

to give

will accept

intend to hold our council at the

lage, that

is

near the British,

us

them.

Huron

vil-

we may probably make ^

them a goods, us

Should they

visit.

we

will

offer us

not take them

any presents of

but should they offer

;

powder and the tomahawk, we

powder and

refuse

the

tomahawk.

brother, to consider everything

and that

it is

listen to

me."

the sentiment of

I

all

I

the

take

will

wish you,

have said as

true,

the red people that

All this was not calculated to promote a peaceful or friendly feeling in the council.

Each

exceedingly distrustful of the other.

Tecumseh had

awakened

in his

own mind, and

in the

side felt

minds of

his

companions, the bitterest feeling of injury from the

United States, while he had increased the suspicions

|

I

MEETING AT VINCENNES.

1

8/

of treachery on the part of the inhabitants of Vin-

who were

cennes

present.

Governor Harrison now arose and denied that the

He

Indians were one nation.

white people had cupied

all

Shawnees

come

when

that

the

America, the Miamis oc-

to

country on

the

said

the

lived in Georgia, from

Wabash, and the which place they

had been driven by the Creeks.

These lands had

been bought from the Miamis, who were the owners. It

was ridiculous to say that the Indians were If the

nation.

had meant

Great Spirit

would not have put

different

it

to

one

all

be

so,

he

tongues into their heads,

but would have taught them to speak a language that

The Miamis thought

could understand.

all

it

to

their interest to sell part of their land for a further

annuity, the

which they had

benefit of

long

for a

time experienced from the punctuality with which the Seventeen Fires had paid them.

had no

come from a

right to

control the

Miamis

The governor time to explain

and

in the disposal of their property.

sat

down,

this.

to allow the interpreter

He had

Shawnees, and had begun omies,

The Shawnees

distant country

when Tecumseh

interpreted

it

to the

to do so to the Pottawat-

rose

up and began

to

speak

very vehemently.

The

his violent gestures,

but thinking he must be making

some explanation, turned

governor was surprised

at

his attention to the friendly

1

TECUMSEH.

88

chief,

Winnemac, who was priming

which

his pistol,

he kept concealed from the Indians, but which was full

sight of the governor.

in

Just then he heard Gen-

eral Gibson, v/ho understood the

Shawnee language,

say to Lieutenant Jennings,

"Those

fellows

intend mischief; you had better

bring up the guard."

The governor looked

moment around

at the Indians,

leader

their

with

son.

He

drew

a small sword which

at that

upon Harri-

their eyes

rose immediately from his arm-chair and

hung

Captain Floyd drew a dirk and his

who

seized their arms and sprang to their feet

pistol.

were quite

at his side, while

Winnemac cocked

The unarmed citizens, of whom there a number present, laid hold of clubs and

brickbats, while Mr. Winans,

a Methodist minister,

ran to the governor's house, got a gun, and stood at the

doorway

strange scene

to

During

defend the family.

no one spoke a word.

soon came running up, and were about to the governor ordered them not to do

so,

this

The guard

when

fire,

and asked

the interpreter to explain what had happened. replied that

that

all

Tecumseh had

that the governor

that the Indians

by him and

He

interrupted him, saying

had

said

was

false,

and

had been cheated and imposed upon

the Seventeen Fires.

The governor then

told

Tecumseh

that he

was a

MEETING AT VINCENNES.

1

89

bad man, and that he would have no further communication with him, that he might go

in

safety,

he had come under protection to the coun-

since

cil-fire,

but that he must immediately leave the

neighborhood.

The

following morning

terpreter.

Tecumseh

sent for the in-

Through him he earnestly entreated the

governor to give him an opportunity to explain his action, saying that

he did not intend to attack him,

and that he had acted under the advice of white people.

The governor

at last

consented to receive the In-

dian chief, each party having the same force as before.

Harrison and his friends

took pains to be

better armed, however.

At

this

interview

ently, being cool

asked him

if

and

Tecumseh behaved very dignified.

When

differ-

the governor

he intended to prevent the survey of

the land on the Wabash, he answered that he

was

determined the old boundary should continue.

When Tecumseh Kickapoo,

finished

Pottawatomie, Ottawa,

chiefs all spoke, saying that

seh's

speaking,

Wyandot,

and Winnebago

they had joined Tecum-

confederacy, and appointed

him

their leader,

and that they would support him. Governor Harrison then told Tecumseh that as he

had been candid

in

acknowledging

his intentions,

he

TECUMSEH.

IQO

would be so a

faithful

He would

too.

send to the President

statement of what he had said

the claim to the lands in question, and

answer when he received

his

disputing

in

tell

Tecumseh

but he was sure the

it,

President would never admit them to be the property of any other than those tribes

who had

occu-

pied them since the white people came to America,

and that as they had come by chase, he might be sure that

their title

by

fair

pur-

would be supported

it

by the sword. The council then adjourned. The governor was exceedingly anxious to have a more

satisfactory conversation

accordingly went to

visit

with Tecumseh.

him

next day, accompanied only

at his

by an

talked with him for a long time.

son asked him

if

his intentions

declared in council.

were

that

;

it

if

politely,

and

Governor Harri-

were such as he had

Tecumseh

said they certainly

would make war upon the United

and

Te-

would be with great reluctance that he

he had nothing Indian lands.

encampment

interpreter.

cumseh received the governor very

He

to

States, of

whom

complain but their purchase of

He was

anxious to be their friend,

the governor would prevail upon the Presi-

dent to give up the land recently bought, and agree never to of

all

assist

make another

treaty without the consent

the tribes, he would be their faithful

them

in all their

ally,

wars with the English.

and

He

MEETING AT VINCENNES.

I91

he knew that the British were always urging

said

the Indians to for the

war

own advantage, and

for their

good of the red men

and clapped

;

his

not

hands

and imitated the halloo of a man setting a dog on to fight, to

way

represent the

the Indians on to the

which the British urged

Fires.

If

But, he

con-

friend of the

Sev-

Americans.

would rather be the

tinued, he

enteen

in

they did not comply with his

terms, however, he would be obliged

other

very

Probably

side. little

this

credulity about

was

to

all true, for

Tecumseh, and

if

take

the

there

was

he hated

the Americans, he equally despised the English.

Governor Harrison again the President of

was not the

said that

his propositions,

all

least probability that

he would

tell

but that there

he would accede to

his terms.

"Well," said Tecumseh, "as the great chief determine the matter,

I

hope the Great

is

to

Spirit will

put sense enough into his head to induce him to direct

you

to give

up

he

his

town and drink

have

to fight

it

It is true,

be injured by the war; he

off

will not

this land.

his wine, while

he

is

may

you and

so far sit

in

I will

out."

The governor then

said that

he had one thing to

request of Tecumseh, that in case

would put a stop

to that cruel

of warfare which the

it

came

to

war he

and disgraceful mode

Indians were

accustomed to

TECUMSEII.

192

wage

against

women and

were no longer

in

a situation to

very readily agreed to mise.

children,

this,

and those who

resist.

Tecumseh

and he kept

his

pro-

CHAPTER

XX.

THE LAST COUNCIL BETWEEN HARRISON AND TECUMSEH. In the

fall

of 1810, a Kickapoo chief visited the

governor and told him that the designs of Tecumseh

and the Prophet were certainly time,

At

hostile.

Governor Clark of Missouri wrote

that belts

had been sent to the

the same

to Harrison

west of the

tribes

Mississippi with an invitation to join in a

war against

the United States, which was to begin with an attack

He

on Vinccnnes.

said that the Sacs

had joined the

confederacy, and had sent a party to the English post,

Maiden, for arms and ammunition.

terpreter at Chicago also sent tribes in that part of the

mined upon war. ferent tribes

we

word

The

in-

that the Indian

country were fully deter-

In these various reports from

dif-

see the extent of Tecumseh's travels,

and of the influence he had acquired over distant Indians.

During 18 10, one of the surveyors who undertook to run the lines

Wabash was

on the new purchase of land on the

driven off

took two of his

men

by some Wea

prisoners.

9

Indians,

who

TECUMSEH.

194

Early in the spring of 1811, Governor Harrison sent a boat

up the Wabash loaded with

different Indian

on that

tribes

allowance for the Prophet's Town.

been absent

when

for

time,

on a

Tecumseh had to the lakes,

visit

The Prophet to decide what should be done. The Indians had punished themselves by

called a council

refusing to take

They

all.

any

sent

salt

word

now

they decided to seize

to the

governor not to be

;

angry with what they had done,

two thousand men salt for

dred

the

the boat arrived at Tippecanoe.

year before the

it

some

salt for

including an

river,

two

men

to feed,

for the

Prophet had

and had not received any

There were then about

years.

and Tecumseh was

at Tippecanoe,

expected with reinforcements.

These

brothers.

hundaily

facts increased

the uneasiness and alarm which had been

some time

six

felt

for

consequence of the actions of the

in

was now conjectured that an attack

It

was meditated upon Vincennes, with eight hundred or a thousand warriors, a

governor could

For making well situated.

much

larger force than the

collect.

this attack,

He was

far

Tecumseh was admirably

enough away

to avoid close

among

the tribes he

observation, centrally situated

wished to unite immediately, and placed so that high water his large glide silently

down

force, in their light canoes,

the

Wabash

in

in

could

twenty-four hours,

THE LAST COUNCIL.

I95

and appear before Vinccnnes without any warning.

For no messenger could

travel overland with equal

expedition.

Governor Harrison sent a request

ment

govern-

to the

that a regiment stationed at Pittsburg under

Boyd should be ordered

Colonel

He

to Vincennes.

also asked for authority to act offensively against the

Indians

when

it

should be discovered that their in-

tentions were decidedly hostile, believing that

it

was

best to crush an outbreak in the beginning.

There were various

little

troubles constantly aris-

ing between the settlers and the horses had been

stolen,

Some

Indians.

but four of these were re-

Some murders Pottawatomies. The

turned on application to Tecumseh.

had been committed by certain Indians

felt little

inclined to trouble themselves about

redressing these wrongs, because similar aggressions

Govern-

often took place on the part of the whites.

or Harrison says

were treated with sions

by our

;

"

I

wish

justice

citizens,

but

I

could say the Indians

and propriety on it

is

all

far otherwise.

are often abused and maltreated, and

it is

occa-

They

rare that

they obtain any satisfaction for the most unprovoked

wrongs."

by an

A

Muskoe Indian was

Italian innkeeper without

killed in

any

Vincennes

just cause.

The

governor ordered that the murderer should be apprehended, but so great was the antagonism to the

TECUMSEH.

196 Indians

among

all

classes, that

on

his trial the jury

acquitted the homicide almost without any deliberation.

About

the same time, two

Wea

Indians were badly

wounded near Vincennes by some Such

provocation.

the slightest

whites, without

exasperated

facts

the Indians, and led to their refusal to deliver up

Indians

who had committed

When

white men.

against

offences

like

made

the governor

a

demand on

who had

the Delaware Indians for White Turkey,

robbed the house of a Mr. Vawter, the chiefs refused to give

him

up another man ished

would never deliver

up, saying that they until

some of the whites were pun-

who had murdered

White Turkey

their people.

They put

to death themselves, however.

Tecumseh had returned from

In June,

the Iroquois and rison sent to

Wyandot

a visit to

Governor Har-

Indians.

him and the Prophet, along with the

other chiefs at Tippecanoe, the following speech "

Brothers

:

Listen to me.

I

:

speak to you about

matters of importance both to the white people and yourselves

what that

I

all

;

open your

shall

say.

ears, therefore,

Brothers, this

;

to

the third year

the white people in this country have been

alarmed at your proceedings

war

is

and attend

you

;

you threaten us with

invite all the tribes to the north

of you to join against

us.

and west

THE LAST COUNCIL. " Brothers, your v/arriors

here deny

but

this,

every direction sent

me word

I

who have

;

that }'0u intended

to

murder me, and

a war upon our people.

you sent

had no other evidence of your

cient.

lately sent

I

have

I

to the Pottawato-

mies and others to join }'ou for that purpose

seizing- the salt

been

lately

have received information from

also received the speech

I

but

;

up the Wabash

preparing

are

themselves,

suffi-

is

to

]iot

if

your

hostility to us,

my

Brothers, our citizens are alarmed, and

warriors

97

the tribes on the Mississippi liavc

commence

then to

1

strike

you, but to defend themselves and their Avomen and

You

children.

do

;

shall not surprise us as

you are about

a friend,

I

to undertake a

advise you to consider well of

may save us much mischief;

reflection

prevent

" ]3rothers,

it is

not yet too

men

Do you

?

that

As

a

little

;

late.

what can be the inducement

of success

handful of

it

to

act.

a great deal of trouble and

undertake an enterprise when ability

you expect

very rash

for

you

tliere is so little

really think

to

prob-

that the

you have about you are able

to contend with the Seventeen Fires, or even that the

A\hole of the tribes united coukl contend against the

Kentucky

fire

Long Kniic as

rlic)'

?

Brothers,

1

am

myself of the

fnc [Virginia and Kcntuclc}'].

hear

forth their

alone

my

voice you will see

swarms of

liunting-shirt

As

soon

them pom'ing

men.

as

muncrou$

TECUMSEH.

198 as the

mosquitoes on

shores of the Wabash.

tlie

Brothers, take care of their stings.

not our wish to hurt you

have power

do

to

Look

it.

to the south

;

and below you

to live in peace

do them

sides of the Ohio,

what

are brave men, but

tliis

satisfied that

?

—-but we wish

country are alarmed.

you have no design

mischief, or they will not lay aside

You have

arms.

by

to

their

government of

also insulted the

the United States

is

and happiness,

" Brothers, the citizens of

They must be

it

certainly

number of our

could you do against such a multitude

you

we

above and below the

on both

You

also.

did,

the

at

warriors to the east of you,

Great Miami

we

if

;

Brothers,

was

seizing the salt that

in-

tended for other tribes; satisfaction must be given for that also.

Brothers,

attended by

must not be

you

talk of

coming

your young men

all

If

so.

this,

;

me,

to see

ho\A'ever,

your intentions are good, you

have need to bring but a few of your young men with you. fer

you

to

I

must be plain with you

come

I will

not suf-

into our settlements with

such a

;

force.

" Brothers,

if

you wish

to satisfy us that

tentions arc good, follow the advice

before

:

that

is,

that one or both of

the President of the

grievances before him.

United

He

your

in-

have given you

I

you should

States and will treat

you

lay

visit

your

well, will

THE LAST COUNCIL. what you

say,

and

you have been

injured,

you

you

my

listen to

will follow

if

1

99

you can show him that receive justice.

will

advice in this respect

If

con-

will

it

vince the citizens of this country and myself that you

have no design to attack them.

Brothers, with re-

were purchased

spect to the lands that

last

fall,

can

I

enter into no negotiations Avith you on that subject the affair

is

the hands of the President.

in

wish to go and see him,

I

will

If

you

supply you with the

means.

who delivers this is one of man in whom I have en-

" Brothers, the person

my

war

tire

confidence.

it

may

a

Whatever he says

not be contained

My

to you, although

in this paper,

Tecumseh, the bearer

friend

and a brave warrior.

You

is

you may be-

comes from me.

lieve

"

He

officers.

I

hope you

arc yourself a warrior, and

esteem

for

is

a good

man

him

well.

will treat

all

such should have

each other."

Captain Wilson, the bearer of this message, was well received at Tippecanoe, and

much

Tecumseh, who had

appreciation for a brave warrior, treated

him

with particular friendship.

He sent this "Brother

answer back :

with you myself to listen to

me

I

to the

governor

:

give you a few words until

Brother, at Vinccnnes, whilst

I

I

I will

be

wish you

send you a few words, and

TECUMSEII.

200 I

hope

tlicy will case

your heart.

know you

I

women and

on your young men and young

with pity, to sec them so alarmed.

you now hope

it

be a satisfaction to you,

wash away

are like mine, to

have been

Brother,

I

wish

examine what you have from me.

to

will

look

children

circulated.

I

your intentions

these bad stories that

all

I will

if

be with you myself

in

eighteen days from this day. " Brother,

we cannot say what will become of us, management of us all at

as the Great Spirit has the his will.

I

may

not be there

come together this will

be there before the time, and

until all

I

may

hope that when we

By

these bad tales will be settled.

I hope your young men, women and children I wish you, brother, to let them know be easy.

when

I

come

to

Vincennes and see you,

peace and happiness.

settled in

only a few words to

you myself; and you

the day.

better.

let

when

Brother,

if I

less than eighteen days,

men

before

me

you know that I

to let

I

am

I will

with you

find I can will

all

be

will

Brother, these are

I

be with

can inform

be with you

send one of

in

my young

you know the time

I will

be

with you."

Early

from

in

July,

Illinois that

in that territory,

Governor Harrison received word

some murders had been committed it

He

was believed by Shawnccs.

also received information that the attack

was

to

be

THE LAST COUNCIL. begun

cover the main object, an attack

in Illinois to

on Vincenncs.

Both

to a state of alarm,

territories

were now thrown

and the inhabitants sent

War

notification to the Secretary of

protect themselves

201

if

in-

official

that they would

the government did not take

measures to protect them. In a letter

Harrison

said,

being told that

Secretary

the

to

Tecumseh

with regard to I

would not

War, Governor

of

suffer

him

only.

shall

I

not,

him a

however, depend upon

promise, but shall have the river watched

of scouts after the descent of the chief,

be followed by his warriors. will

be the

case.

signs of an Indian feat

them.

The is

I

he should

do not think

this

of an expedition, conducted toil

abandoned frequently upon the

moment

lest

a party

generally for that time to de-

The hopes

cion, their painful steps retraced,

able

by

few'

this

detection of the hostile de-

through many hundred miles of arc

Upon

come with

to

so large a force, he promised to bring with

men

"

:

expected.

and

difficulty,

slightest

suspi-

and a more favor-

With them,

the surprise of

an enemy bestows more eclat upon a warrior than the most brilliant success obtained

Tecumseh had taken Pontiac,

and

comparison

I

in

am

for

his

persuaded he

every respect

warrior."

9*

by other means.

model the celebrated Avill

bear a favorable

with that

far- famed

TECUMSEH.

202

Tecumseh made

Vincennes during the

his visit to

He

latter part of July.

could not travel without a at this

time by

thirty

were

women

arbor was built for the council.

At

this the

proper retinue, and was accompanied three hundred Indians, of

and

whom

children.

An chief

was attended by one hundred and seventy war-

riors,

without guns, but armed either with knives

and tomahawks or bows and arrows.

The governor opened ence to the murders

in Illinois

seh had created on the

He

so large a force.

Tecumseh or any of

He made

the council.

refer-

and the alarm Tecum-

Wabash by said he

his passage with

would

listen to

what

the other chiefs might have to

say about the purchase of land on the Wabash, but

he could enter into no negotiation about

it,

matter was in the hands of the President.

spoke of the seizure of the explanation. salt

had been

Tecumseh

salt,

seized, but he said

the salt was refused.

possible to please the

angry because the

was

just as

much

salt

it

and demanded an

away

He

was during

his

the spring before

said

governor:

was

it

seemed im-

it

last

refused,

displeased because

this point the council

then

replied, admitting that the

absence, and that he was also

when

as the

He

year he was

and it

this

year he

was taken. At

adjourned for the day.

When

was opened the next day a long speech was made

THE LAST COUNCIL.

203

by a Wca chief with regard to all the treaties that had been made by the governor of Indiana. The governor then told Tecumsch that

who

the two Pottawatomies

men,

it

would show him

to

sions of friendship to the

at great pains to

he Avould give up

murdered the

liad

be sincere

\\'hitc

his profes-

in

United States and of desire

Tecumsch

to preserve peace.

been

if

induce

the Northern tribes

of Indians to unite and place themselves under that the whites were alarmed

unnecessarily

measures, which meant peace.

He

States

among

had all

it,

The

Indians, he said, did not

and their white brethren ought not

As

on a

tribes of Indians to prevail

He

the Northern.

up

;

and

he had

if

to unite with

said the murderers

were not

new purchase great

settle at

at

they were, he could not deliver them

set the whites

an example of forgiveness

of injuries, and they ought to imitate him.

A

among

the Southern

visit to

upon them

he hoped that nothing would be done toward the

to

soon as the council was over, he

said he intended to set out

his town,

;

his

United

said the

complain of the Indians doing the same thing their tribes.

him

at

him the example of forming a union

set

the Fires.

complain of

had

replied that he

all

He

said

settling

until his return the following spring.

number of Indians were coming, he

said, to

Tippecanoe, and would need the land for a

hunting ground

;

and

if

they did no more injury, they

TECUMSEII.

204 might

and hogs of the white

at least kill the cattle

make

people, and that this would

he wished

all

he would

visit

remain quiet

to

disturbances, and

until his return,

the President and settle

was now

when

all difficulties

night,

and the governor closed

the council, saying that the

moon which they saw

with him.

It

would sooner

fall

to

the ground than the President

would suficr his people to be murdered with impunity, and that he would put petticoats on

warriors

his

sooner than give up a country which he had

bought from

its

true owners.

fairly

Harrison had ordered

a parade of the whole militia of the country on the

day of Tccumseh's

arrival

;

and by the maneuvering

of the garrison, in making frequent

company by than

it

another, he

made

it

reliefs

of one

appear stronger

was, and he hoped to convince the chief that

Vincennes was guarded by a vigilance that defied surprise.

A

Pottawatomie, called the Deaf Chief, fromi his

being hard of hearing, was present at

He

this

council.

told the governor, in the presence of other In-

dians, after

it

was over, that

if

he had been called

upon he would have conh-onted Tecumseh when he This was denied that his intentions were hostile. quickly reported to Tecumseh, to the

who calmly

Prophet that on his return

to

intimated

Tippecanoe the

Deaf Chief must be put out of the way.

He was

THE LAST COU^XIL.

20$

informed of his danger by a friend, but was not

on

war

his

dress, painted himself elaborately,

himself with

rifle,

The

cumseh.

in his

canoe to the camp of Te-

interpreter,

Mr. Baron, was there

The Deaf Chief

conversation with Tecumseh.

proached Tecumseh saying

it

"Here

was an I

armed

tomahawk, war-club, and scalping-

and paddled

knife,

in

lie returned to his camp, put

the least intimidated.

for

having ordered his death,

unworthy of a

act

am now,"

in

re-

said he;

warrior.

"come and

me."

kill

Tecumseh made no answer. "

You, and your men," continued the Deaf

" can

kill

the white people's hogs and call

them

Chief,

bears,

but you dare not face a warrior."

Tecumseh remained calmly omie abused him

in

every

The Pottawat-

silent.

way he

could, in order to

rouse his anger and tempt him to

fight, calling

him

a slave of the red-coats, and finally using a term of

reproach that can never be forgotten by an Indian.

Tecumseh, however, did not calm dignity,

whoop

for a

moment

lose his

and the Deaf Chief gave the war-

of defiance and paddled

off.

There

is

rea-

son to suppose that Tecumseh's orders were not dis-

obeyed, however, for the Pottawatomie was never again seen at Vincennes.

Tecumseh a

fevv^

set off

from Vincennes

days, attended

by twenty

for the

warriors.

South

in

He was

TECUMSEH.

206

now

On

Hearing the accomplishment of his great plan.

his return

from

this visit

he would have his con-

federacy formed and be ready to

act.

But Harrison

had determined not to await Tecumseh's

readiness.

CHAPTER

XXI.

GETTING READY FOR WAR. In a

letter to the

this council,

War Department

with regard to

Governor Harrison speaks of

" the

im-

obedience and respect which the followers of

plicit

Tecumsch pay

to him,"

" If

for the vicinity of the

it

were not

He

as wonderful.

says

United States,

he would perliaps be the founder of an empire that

would ties

For four years he has been

deter him.

You

stant motion.

and

in

No

glory Mexico or Peru.

rival in

see

difficul-

in

con-

him to-day on the Wabash,

a short time hear of

him on the shores of

Lake Erie or Michigan, or on the banks of the Mississippi

;

and wherever he goes he makes an impres-

sion favorable to his purpose. last

He

round to put a finishing stroke

is

now upon

the

work.

I

to his

hope, however, before his return," says the general, " that that part of the

complete

will

work which he considered

be demolished, and even

its

founda-

tion rooted up." It

appears that though the power of Tecumsch

over most of his followers was founded on their fection for him,

some were subdued by

af-

fear alone,

208

TECUMSEII.

and the moment Tecumseh had

left

Vincenncs

for

the South they took occasion to express their strong discontent.

We

have only some fragments of the history of

Tccumseh's traveler

among

Tecumseh

"

to

visit

One

Southern Indians.

the

the Creeks or IMuskogees heard that

came more than a thousand

the borders of Canada," to

visit

miles,

that nation

from

and

to

persuade them to go to war with the English against the Americans whenever he gave notice.

A

mid-

night council of the chiefs was held, an eloquent

speech was

made by Tecumseh, and

unanimously decided

to

the

Creeks

"take up the hatchet" when

he should command.

From seh's in

He sel

another writer

work with

Florida. told

them

we

get an account of

the Seminolcs and neighboring tribes

Among them

he was also successful.

that on a particular

of the "red-coats,"

for the Indians,

filled

would be

day on which they were

sticks

which he painted

certain ves-

with arms and supplies

calendar,

showing the

to strike the white settle-

This he did by making

sticks equal to the

day a

off the coast of Florida.

Tecumseh prepared them a ments.

Tccum-

red.

number

little

bundles of

Each bundle contained of days that

would pass

before the one arrived which he had indicated to

them.

Every morning they were

to

throw away a

ready for war.

gettii:g

Thus

stick.

it

came

to pass that the Scminolcs, in

the war which followed,

the

name

"Red

of

became widely known under

Sticks."

He

cautious in his operations. to

209

Tecumseh was very directed the Indians

answer any inquiry that might be made as

he had come from so

them

to

till

far,

to

why

saying that he had told

the ground, to abstain from the use of

''fire-water,"

and to

live

peaceably with the white

people.

From

Florida he journeyed to Alabama, where he the Creeks of that region.

Here we again

hear of Tecumseh working upon

the superstitious

visited

fears of the Indians.

He was

very successful until

he reached the town of Tuckabatchee, on the Tallapoosa River.

In this place he addressed the council

of the nation, and cipal chief.

met

a silent opponent in the prin-

Tecumseh divined the

Big Warrior.

ings of this chief

He

angrily stamped his feet on

the ground, and looking into the eyes of Big rior, said

War-

:

"Your blood and the

feel-

sticks,

is

white.

You have

taken

my

talk,

and the w^ampum, and the hatchet,

but you do not mean to

fight. I know the reason. You do not believe the Great Spirit has sent me. You shall know. I leave Tuckabatchee directly and shall go straight to Detroit when I arrive there, I ;

will

stamp on the ground with

my

foot,

and shake

TECUMSEH.

2IO

down

all

them, and

left

Tecumseh

the houses in Tuckabatchee." it

chanced

tract of land

in a

New

famous earthquake of

few weeks that the

Madrid,

in

which a large

on the Mississippi sank, occurred, and

demolished every house dians exclaimed,

"Tecumseh has got

How much

there

fact

know, but such a story sions of this one have

in

is

will it

The

Tuckabatchee.

in

we do

the story

Without

sufficiently riors

this

that the earthquake took

addition

coincidence

the

remarkable for Indian superstition.

took up their

rifles

not

grow, and the later ver-

De-

place on the very day of Tecumseh's arrival in troit.

In-

to Detroit!"

and

prepared

for

was

Warwar

prophets and witches became numerous, and murders were committed on the frontier.

of Indians under Little Warrior, visit to

A

company

who had been on

Tecumseh, butchered several

families in

a

Ten-

nessee on the return journey.

Tecumseh was sion,

matured

He

ver}^ successful in his

and turned toward home with for the

accomplishment of

passed through the tribes

Des Moines bash to find

Southern mis-

his plans at last

his great purpose.

in Missouri,

and on the

River, and crossed rapidly to the his capital

Wa-

destroyed and his plans come

to naught.

Tecumseh had

told

would remain a year

Governor Harrison that he in the

South.

The governor

GETTING READY FOR WAR,

211

had information, however, that Tecumsch did not

A

tend to stay more than three months.

omie

chief,

who

still

in-

Pottawat-

remained friendly to the United

he was present when a message was de-

States, said

livered to the Prophet from the agent of the English

government

to the effect that

the hatchet, and inviting

it

him

was time

to

to take

up

send to Maiden for

the supplies that were needed.

The

last

council with

Tecumsch was not

chief

had gone

to the

at all sat-

The

isfactory to the inhabitants of Indiana.

South to extend

his

great hostile

confederacy, and every bit of tidings that reached the settlements from the Indians tended to increase

the alarm.

met and

The

citizens of

Vincennes and

its

vicinity

sent memorials to the President, requesting

his protection,

and saying that

if

this

were not ac-

corded they would be obliged to defend themselves.

The

President ordered the Fourth Regiment, un-

der Colonel Boyd, to service under the governor of Indiana, but strongly impressed bility of

maintaining peace

ment did not

if

upon him the

possible.

wish, however, that

desira-

The govern-

murder or robbery

should be committed by the Indians without punish-

ment, or that a confederacy should be allowed to "avail itself of success," because of neglect in meeting

and defeating

it.

It

would have been better

to

have

extinguished Tecumseh's empire even at an earlier

TECUMSEII.

212

Every sign of weakness or

day.

demanding

all

in particular

unfortu-

the neighboring Indian tribes,

that those

citizens should

is

In August, Harrison

nate in dealing with savages. sent speeches to

tardiness

who had murdered American

be delivered up, and that the Miamis

should prove that they had no connec-

He

tion with the confederacy.

directed his agent to

use every influence to bring the Indians to a sense of duty, and to warn

tomahawk

them

that those Avho took

up the

against the United States would be se-

This brought a party of Indians

verely punished.

from the Prophet's Town,

in

September, with great

professions of peace.

About stolen,

the

same

and tracked

time, however,

some horses were

to Tippecanoe.

Here they were

returned to the pursuing party, but were again re-

by the

captured

Indians,

who seemed

to

regret

having given them up.

On in

the 26th of September,

command

of a military expedition

Tippecanoe confederacy,

camped

at a spot

left

Illinois

called

by

Here

a fort

against

the

He

en-

Vincennes.

on the Wabash where, according

to Indian tradition, a battle tlie

Governor Harrison,

had been fought between

and Iroquois Indians.

This place was

the French settlers " Bataille des Illinois."

was

built,

I'cqucst of the soldiers.

and called Fort Harrison by

GETTING READY FOR WAR.

21

The governor had sent to the Delawares asking that some of their chiefs should meet his army upon the Wabash, in order that they might act in missions

who were impHcated

to the different tribes

Prophet's confederacy. nation

who were

the

in

All the chiefs of this friendly

able to

march

with the governor's request.

out to comply

set

They had gone but

a

few miles when they were met by a party from Tippecanoe, asking "whether they would or would not join them in the war against the United States," and saying " that they had taken up the tomahawk,

and would not lay

They

and when they had tribes

which refused

to repent

to join

them Avould have cause

this,

to

Harrison to

the Delaware chiefs set out to

the Prophet.

About fired

their lives.

beaten the Americans, those

Sending a messenger

it."

inform him of visit

down but with

it

had, however, positive assurances of victory,

this

time a sentinel

in

Harrison's

camp

Avas

upon by the Indians and severely wounded.

The governor was now desirous of attacking the Prophet immediately, knowing that Tccumseh might soon return, and feeling no doubt that the Prophet

was determined on war. however, by defective

Harrison

arrangements

provisions for the expedition, and

was much annoyed.

by

was delayed, in

this

regard

to

delay he

TECUMSEH.

214

The governor had hoped that the advance of his army would frighten the Tippecanoe Indians into This, however,

submission.

was not the

case,

though

made a strong impression upon some of the tribes. The Miami chiefs started to visit the governor, and the Weas said that they would never return to the it

Prophet.

On

the 27th of October, the Delaware chiefs,

had gone

They

to

make a

visit

said that the Prophet

who

to the Prophet, returned

had insulted them, mak-

ing contemptuous remarks upon them and scoffing

The Prophet had

the governor.

bad grace, treated them them. while

They

left

ill,

received

and

him practicing

at

them with

finally

dismissed

his " infernal rites,"

he and his followers danced the war-dance

every night.

While they were there the Indians

who had wounded the sentinel in Harrison's camp The Delawares said they were Shawnees returned. and near friends of the Prophet.

The Prophet had threatened The prisoners he should take. frightened that

it

burn the

interpreters

was almost impossible

to the front of the army.

accepted an offer

to

were so

to get

The governor

made by some

first

them

therefore

of the Delawares

and the Miamis to carry a message to the Prophet's

Town.

Governor Harrison demanded of them that

Winncbagocs, Pottawatomies, and Kickapoos, who

GETTING READY FOR WAR. were

at

21 5

Tippecanoe, should return to their tribes

that stolen horses should be restored,

and murderers

of white people delivered up.

The deputation which bore returned.

It is

in the battle

fessed place.

to

this

message never

supposed that the Miamis took part

which followed,

as

they afterwards con-

having been near when the action took

CHAPTER

XXII.

THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE. On

the 29th of October, 181

1,

the

army marched

out of Fort Harrison, leaving beliind them a garrison of invahd soldiers. sisted of

Governor Harrison's

force con-

about nine hundred men, including some

volunteers from Kentucky, who, with a love of conflict

characteristic of Kentuckians,

had requested the

privilege of joining in the expedition, and

him on the way.

the Indians in journeying to Tippecanoe.

on the south-east but

it

side of the

Wabash was

was woody and very favorable

buscades.

who met

There were two routes used by

Harrison thought

The one

the shorter,

to Indian

am-

best, for this reason, to

take the route on the north-west bank of the river,

but

in

order to deceive the enemy,

who were

closely

watching him, he had the route on the south-east side of the river reconnoitered

wagon

road.

Upon

this

the

and opened

army marched

short distance, when, suddenly crossing the

they took the other route.

No

into a for a

Wabash,

signs of Indians were

seen until the troops reached a very dangerous pass at Pine Creek.

This creek ran between

hif^^h cliffs

of

THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE. rock surmounted with pine and cedar

The

trees.

on which the troops were march-

crossing of the

trail

ing was very

difficult,

and afforded a chance

few Indians to successfully oppose a large 1786, and again

21/

in

for a

force.

In

1790, the Indians had availed

themselves of this bad crossing for the purpose of resisting in the first instance

eral Clark, eral

of

and

in

The governor

Harmar's troops.

men

an expedition under Gen-

the second a detachment of Gensent out a

in the night to search for a better pass.

body

They

returned the next day and reported that they had

found a good

ford,

which had evidently been used by

the Indians, where a prairie skirted the creek.

army

crossed at this place in safety, and were

The filled

with admiration at the beauty of the great prairie,

which stretched away nearly a hundred miles to the Illinois River.

On

the night of the

5

th of

November, the troops

encamped within ten miles of the Prophet's Town. Still

no Indians were seen, although there were every-

where

traces of scouting

parties.

On

the following

day, however, within five or six miles of the town,

some

parties of Indians

ters in front of the

cate with them.

were seen, and the interpre-

army were

The

directed to

communi-

Indians gave them no answer

but threatening and insulting gestures.

When

they arrived within a mile and a half of the 10

TECUMSEH.

2l8

town, General Harrison resolved to encamp for the

He was

night. diately, sible

urged to attack the town imme-

but his instructions were to avoid war

and he also hoped

;

Indians

if

pos-

for the return of the friendly

whom he had sent to the Prophet's Town to He decided to advance, however, send-

meet him. ing

Captain

Dubois forward with a

Dubois did not succeed with the Indians, preter,

and

who

tried to cut

General Harrison

now

tacking the Indians.

of truce.

opening any negotiation

in

refused to answer his inter-

him

off

from the main army.

hesitated no longer about at-

They, however, had no thought Harrison was soon

of fighting without a surprise.

met by

flag

a deputation of three Indians, one of

was the Prophet's chief counselor.

They

whom

innocently

inquired the reason of the army's advancing upon

them.

The Prophet, they

chiefs

said,

and had sent a

if possible,

who had come

to

wished to keep peace

specific

message by the

him from the governor, but

that they had unfortunately returned on the south side of the

The gen-

Wabash, and thus missed him.

eral readily

agreed to suspend

hostilities

and

to

meet

the Indians the next day for the purpose of treating for peace.

to the

He

told the deputation that he

Wabash and encamp

army marched on toward good place

for

would go

there for the night.

The

the town in order to find a

encampment.

When

they neared the

THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE. town the order of troops was changed

prepared called

immediately-

The governor rode forward, and assured them that he

for defence.

some Indians

who

savages,

suspicious

to suit the

This maneuver

uneven character of the country. alarmed the

219

to him,

had no intentions of attacking them.

Some

were sent out

for the

and

this

itself for

on

to select

a suitable place

the night in order of battle, the

They were much

so sure of

this,

experienced

sleeping that

Some

of those

Indian ways were not

however.

strange and exciting night was this in the town

of the Indian Prophet.

vaded was a sacred of the

new

rites

spot, the very centre

were performed.

Jerusalem

religion

among

the

troops, so the

It

where

and

all its

capital

mysteri-

was, according to their

them by the Great

the Jews, the peculiar

and of patriotism.

surrounded

This place thus rudely in-

religious fanaticism,

leader, a place chosen for like

in

men

dissatisfied

there was no prospect of fighting.

who were more

ous

camp,

having been decided upon, the army settled

their arms.

A

officers

The

home

fortifications

town were impregnable Prophet told them.

Spirit

to

of

which white

And now

the

strength of their faith and of their arms was to be tested.

Had Tecumseh been at home, differently. He had left

ended

'

matters might have orders that war was

TECUMSEH.

220 to

be avoided during

absence at

his

hazards.

all

Whether- or not there had sprung up a jealousy be-

tween the brothers, apparently so firmly united, we

But

never know.

shall

would have taken more

it

magnanimity than the Prophet possessed seen with composure the rapid

rise

to

have

of Tecumseh's

fame and power, eclipsing and absorbing the glory of

He

his spiritual influence.

found himself surrounded

by impetuous warriors, among them the flower of the Winnebago braves, and his force was in no way inferior to that of the white troops

who were

rison,

were worked up

under Governor Har-

and never were Indians known

and formed a

meet the whites to agree to

then to

were

be so

to

and

fierce

Early in the evening the Indians held a coun-

brave. cil

men

His

an unfortified camp.

in

to the highest pitch of fanatical zeal,

all

retire

to

The Indian

plan.

in council the

chiefs

next day.

of Harrison's proposals.

were to

They were They were

a short distance to where their warriors

be stationed.

Two

Indians were to remain

behind and assassinate the governor.

To

this

pur-

pose some Winnebagoes had religiously devoted their lives.

The

battle

dark and cloudy

;

was then the

to begin.

moon did not in. The

a drizzling rain soon set

The

night was

rise until late,

and

Indians probably

occupied the time in war preparations, and servance of the juggling ceremonies by

in the

ob-

Vvdiich

the

THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE. Prophet so well succeeded

in

passions, while he, at the very

ance, doubtless prophesied is

said that

tions over,

exciting their savage

summit of

and boasted

his import-

as usual.

It

he concocted a composition, said incanta-

and then told

of Harrison's half

221

his followers that one-half

army was now

was crazy, and

dead, and that the other

would be a small matter

it

for the

Indians to finish their destruction with their toma-

During

hawks.

and

before

this

four

dark night the plan was changed,

o'clock

whole

the

force of

Prophet's braves were creeping through the

upon the

sentinels

grass

around the American camp.

Governor Harrison was accustomed

men

the

to arouse his

an hour before daylight and keep them on their

guard

until

7th of

November he had

On

the sun rose.

the morning of the

and was pulling

just risen

his boots before a camp-fire

and conversing with

several of his officers, while the

drummer was being

on

roused preparatory to calling

up the men.

Suddenly

a single shot was heard, followed by the wild Indian yell

which was the nightmare of

Indian country.

A

sentinel

dian creeping upon him and ately the

all

had

war-whoop sounded on

whole Tippecanoe

force,

who

slept in the

had discovered an Infired.

all

Immedi-

hands, and the

commanded by White Loon,

Stone Eater, and Winnemac, the Pottawatomie chief

who had professed

so

much

friendship for the governor,

TECUMSEH.

222

was upon them

in

an instant.

the point of attack, but the

way

Tlie guard gave

men who had been

at

sleep-

ing on their arms were immediately prepared to receive

tlie

Indians bravely, although the suddenness

of the charge was sufficient to have excited a panic.

The

camp-fires were instantly put out, in order that

the Indians might not have the assistance of their In two minutes every soldier

light.

prepared for action

and the

battle

was on

his feet

officers hurried to their posts,

;

soon raged on

in virtue of his sacred office,

all sides.

The Prophet,

and perhaps, as

of a

sham prophecy and a

not take part small

hill

in the battle,

American

sug-

bullet," did

but stationed himself on a

near at hand where he chanted a war-song,.

and presided had reason to

With

real

is

powers

gested, unwilling "to attest at once the rival

like

an

evil genius, as the Indians

think, over

tliis

soon

battle in the darkness.

characteristic fanaticism or infatuation, he

had

prophesied that the American bullets would rebound harmless from the bodies of the Indians, and that they

would be provided with

light,

while

all

would be

" thick darkness " to their enemies.

He had

dently heard of Moses and Pharaoh.

Both

were embarrassed by the

terrible darkness.

Messengers informed the Prophet soon battle

began that

most natural way.

his

He

evi-

parties

after the

followers were falling in the

sent back orders for

them

to

THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE.

223

persevere, saying that his prophecy would soon be

His wild, inspiring war-song then

fulfilled.

rose

above the crack of firearms and the Indian war-

whoop.

The drums

them

Indians to signal

use of deer hoofs instead of

an advance or retreat

certain rattling sounds.

known

to

abandoned

battle

more

making with

Never were savages

They

quite

of fighting stealthily and

Under

shelter.

fanaticism in

;

desperately.

their practice

from behind fierce

made

the influence of

the

which they had so long been

steeped, they braved the whites in open battle, rush-

ing right upon their bayonets. ulated

They were

by the superior bravery of

who were among

them.

shortly after daylight,

The

the

conflict

when with

also stim-

Winnebagoes lasted

until

a last charge the

troops succeeded in putting the Indians to flight

CHAPTER

XXIII.

INCIDENTS OF THE BATTLE. During the

camp

the battle Harrison rode from one side of

to another, disposing his troops

and con-

ducting them in person so as to give the best support to the side attacked.

He was begged

expose himself so much, and his

hold of his bridle rein to detain him.

being where the

sisted in

courage and coolness did steady under this deadly night,

and

the

in

fire

was

much

fire in

to

not to

even took

officers

But he per-

hottest,

and

keep the

his

men

the darkness of the

gray dawning of that

ghastly

bloody morning.

At one

time Harrison saw an ensign, a French-

man, standing behind a

He

tree.

reproached him

with cowardice, and told him he ought to be ashamed to be

under shelter when

The Frenchman, when " I

plained bitterly. said;

"dc

move de

tree

my

here was

tree;

Toward

the

his

men were

was not behind de

I

;

how

cannot leaf close

com-

can

my

tree,"

Dere was de

was before me. position

exposed.

the battle was over,

I

help

?

I

he

tree,

cannot

position."

of the action, the

troops in

INCIDENTS OF THE BATTLE.

225

charging passed over the body of a major

been

He was

killed.

lying on his face

and uniform he was much

like

who had in

;

Harrison having been seen not long before part of the

field,

person

the governor, and in that

word was soon passed along the

line that the

governor had been

killed

ute later the

men saw him

down

riding

;

but a minthe front of

their line and greeted him with cheers of joy.

And times.

him

Harrison escaped narrowly several

indeed

was part of the plan of the Indians to

It

at all

kill

Besides the conspiracy to slay

hazards.

him treacherously by

assassination in the council the

next day, there were other attempts of the same

While the troops were taking

kind.

night, three Indians

were reported

position for the

to the

governor as

having followed them, and as being within the

lines

Whether they came only as spies, or, more likely, to kill the commander, cannot be

at that time.

as

is

known. Prophet's

They were immediately

Town

sent back to the

with a message to the Prophet to

return to the governor a negro

who had

deserted

under suspicious circumstances. This negro's bullock driver

name was by

He was employed as

Ben,

the contractor.

were passing the Indian town

While the troops

to find their place of

encampment, he declared that he was not in.

Two

negroes

who were lO*

afraid to

with him doubted

go

this^

TECUMSEH.

226

and he immediately started .

to the town,

whereupon

two Indians came out and conducted him

The

in.

governor immediately directed the interpreter to the Indians and

them

tell

followed the

to send

The

they promised to do.

army denied

him back.

call

This

who had they knew of the

three Indians that

negro '2 having gone into the town, but said that he should be sent out as soon as they could reach the

But Ben did not appear

town. dark,

when

tent of the situation.

others,

until

some time

a Captain Wilson discovered

after

him near the

commander, apparently examining

He

its

seized him, and with the assistance of

dragged him up to the

that the Indians took

him

fire.

into the

The negro

town by

force,

said

and

had sent him back on the return of the three Indians

He had

from Harrison's camp.

without being challenged, he

But

report to the governor.

passed the sentinels

and had come

to

he had not been

in

said,

as

the quarters of the contractor's men, and had not

spoken to any one since

his return,

it

seemed

clear

that he was acting in the interest of the Indians. is

It

probable that he either meant to slay the governor

himself in the battle, Indians to his tent.

would not have been

or,

what

is

more

likely, to

guide

Harrison himself says that this difficult to do.

Captain Wilson

remembered seeing him throw something out of his hand when he was seized. He went to the place and

INCIDENTS OF THE BATTLE.

22/

found a high cap, made to look on the outside Hke

Ben

the cap of a grenadier.

had

said that an Indian

taken away his hat and had given him this cap.

Ben was secured by General Wells and Colonel

Owen, who were

old Indian fighters, in the Indian

manner, they not having any handcuffs to put on

He was thrown on

him.

were inserted

in

his

back, then his ankles

notches cut in a

split log,

which was

then closed around them and held together by forks driven over the log into the ground

extended and

tied

to stakes.

his

;

He was

arms were

sentenced to

death for desertion, by a drum-head court-martial, held the next day, and the sentence was approved

by

the general, but never executed

negro lay

in

;

for as the

poor

uneasy position by the evening's

his

fire,

he kept turning his eyes imploringly on Harri-

son,

and the tender heart of the commander was so

much final

affected that

he could not afterward give the

order for his execution

;

but he got together

the commissioned officers, and told

decide the negro's

them they should

Some were

fate.

all

for

executing

him; and he would no doubt have been shot had not been

for

Captain Snelling,

who

pleaded

for his

" Brave comrades," he said, "let us save him. Avretch

whose

deserves life

to

die

was more

ing to spare him,

;

but as our

us

also forgive

life.

The

commander,

particularly his object,

let

it

is

him."

will-

The

TECUMSEH.

228

negro was discharged when the troops reached Vincennes.

Harrison had two horses

the one on which he

:

would have ridden during the

was white.

battle

This

white mare was saddled and bridled ready for mountIn the night she pulled up the picket to which

ing.

The

she was tied and got loose. tied

"confoundedly frightened,"

so

governor's servant

her to the wagon wheel, but

began, where he had put her.

Harrison his horse

;

was

to use Harrison's ex-

remember, when the bat-

pression, that he could not tle

the fellow

Major Taylor

and one of Harrison's

aids,

lent

who

rode a remarkably white horse, was killed before they reached the point

he was the

killed

lines,

by one

attacked.

Harrison's

loss

in

killed

was

and eighty-eight

in killed

thirty-eight dead

who had

loss equal to that

fifty,

including those

mode

hair

who

was one hundred

and wounded. The Indians battle-field,

which with

them must have made the

on the American

This large

side.

on their part was quite surprising,

ordinary

entered

for the governor.

total loss

upon the

those they carried with

loss

believed that

during the night.

and the

left

is

hat rim was perforated, and his ball

after,

died soon

It

or two Indians

and who mistook him

grazed by a

The

first

of fighting,

places and in ambuscade,

it

by is

firing

for in their

from lurking

not possible to

kill

INCIDENTS OF THE BATTLE.

many

Indians.

as to

make

The

Indians chewed their bullets so

wound

a lacerated

the large proportion of the

Some

he had fixed

until

target

a great

;

made The

it.

number

A

but a

into the

rifle

ball

We

fire.

a light, remained there

made him

light

a good

Winnebago

chief also

where the American

to a fire at a point

He

had been pushed back. flint,

One

gun out of order,

of shots were fired at him,

but he escaped unhurt.

went up

attributed

died.

remonstrances of his comrades, went up

and, having

fire,

is

great daring.

finding the lock of his

in spite of the

to the

to this

;

wounded who

of the militia evinced

young man,

229

sat

killed him,

lines

there pecking his

and he

forward

fell

are sorry to have to say that a

regular soldier went out to scalp him, but the soldier

being a

New Englander did not understand the barbaHe was a long time accomplishing his

rous practice. object,

and when he returned with

he brought back also

body of the ican lines,

his

hideous trophy

his death- wound.

Though the Amer-

chief lay in close proximity to the

it

was borne

by the

off"

Indians,

and was

afterward found in the town.

The 7th.

battle

was fought

The whole

in

the early morning of the

of that day was spent in caring for

the wounded, and in fortifying the angles of the camp.

The flesh.

soldiers

had no meat

this

day but broiled horse-

TECUMSEII.

230

On

morning of the

the

General Wells, with

Sth,

the dragoons and mounted riflemen, reconnoitered the famous town, but the Prophet's capital was de-

There was found a great quantity of corn,

serted.

which was most acceptable

to the troops

hogs and some domestic

also

were somewhat more the plains which

fowl, for these Indians

civilized

we know

than the wild bands of

The pork and The town had

to-day.

fowls were kept for the wounded.

been sils

abandoned

were

new and

in

a

there were

;

panic

all

;

household

uten-

and many arms, some of which were

left,

wrapped

yet

in

the coverings

in

which

they had been imported.

The only chief with a

human being in the village was a broken leg. The General and his men

living

burned the Indian houses, destroyed brass kettles. chief,

The whites dressed

and made other provision

to say to the Indians that

if

the

their corn

and

wounds of the

for him,

and told him

they would leave the

Prophet and return to their own

tribes

they would

be forgiven. After

everything which

the

army needed was

taken, the brass kettles were destroyed and the town

was burned.

The

cumbered with wagons.

troops slowly returned, greatly en-

their

wounded, who

The governor ordered

filled

all

the

the destruction of

INCIDENTS OF THE BATTLE. baggage, and set his ing

ail

his

Though

camp small

officers

the example

furniture into the parties

by throw-

fire.

of Indians

troops were not molested on

23

their

appeared, return.

the

The

Prophet's influence was broken forever, and in Te-

cumseh's absence there was none to tered savages.

rally the scat-

CHAPTER

XXIV.

TECUMSEH'S RETURN. Governor Harrison

did not strike too soon.

A few days after the battle of Tippecanoe Tecumseh town destroyed,

returned, to find his

and the Prophet

scattered,

have been

his

met

not wonder that

he reproached him with severity his

States at

command

all

to

for

The Prophet

hazards.

Sudden indeed was the disgrace.

having disre-

tried to

On

excuse

Tecumseh took him by

the hair and shook him, threatening to

his

first

keep peace with the United

himself, but the exasperated

deep

when he

and unwise regent, the Prophet,

his disobedient

garded

Great must

disappointment at the overthrow of

One does

his plans.

his followers

in disgrace.

fall

kill

him.

of Tenskwatawa, and

returning from battle the

Indians accused him of being a murderer. "

you

You told

crazy,

are a liar," said a

us

that

Winnebago

to him, "for

the white people were dead

when they were

all

in their senses

or

and fought

like the devil."

The Prophet answered been some mistake

in dejection, that there

in the

compounding of

had

his con-

TECUMSEII'S RETURN.

The

coctlon.

233

Indians bound him and threatened to

take his Hfe, but he never received any punishment at their hands,

ahhough,

tentions, they told the

what they meant larity

which

to

to

prove their peaceful

governor

do

many

He

to him.

his position as a

stories

in-

about

the popu-

lost

prophet and wonder-

worker, the spiritual superior of the warrior Tecumseh,

and the defender of Indian

had given him, and

rights,

became the mere Indian boaster be

like

;

he was found to

yEsop's braying donkey dressed in a lion's

skin.

Tecumseh's confederacy, the work of years of peril

and

difficulty,

and indeed and

his

his

seemed crushed

at the first

own immediate band was

blow;

scattered

headquarters destroyed, but the chief had

wide influence over distant

were defeated and

his

Though

tribes.

combination

stroyed, the indefatigable

in a

Tecumseh

his plans

measure de-

still

persevered

in his labor.

After leaving the scene of the battle, the Indians

had gone about twenty

miles,

to

Wildcat Creek.

Here most of them dispersed, going of their different tribes, while the for their northern

home.

to the villages

Winnebagoes started

The Prophet

sent a mes-

sage asking to be allowed to go back to his town, but the governor warned

On

the 22d of

him not

to return.

November, the annual meeting

to

TECUMSEH.

234

was

distribute annuities to the Indians

Chiefs

held.

and representatives from the Delaware, Miami, Pottawatomie, and Shawnee nations were present, while

some Indians who had fought which were

They

distributed.

Tippe-

in the battle of

canoe boldly came and asked their part

in the

goods

said that the Indians

had imprisoned the Prophet and intended to punish

him with

They succeeded

in

deceiving the

Indian agent, but their story was not

strictly in ac-

death.

cordance with

fact, for

the Prophet was at the time

enjoying his liberty at the village of Mississinewa.

The agent made

a speech to the Indians, saying that

the President wished to be friendly and at peace with

them, and would pardon them great Black in

Hoof answered

if

The

they desired.

that they

peace with the United States.

all

wished to

In this the

live

Shaw-

nees and most of the Delawares were sincere, but

The aged

the Pottawatomies had no such purpose. Little Turtle of the

peace,

Miamis was strongly

but Tccumseh

among them

had

than he did.

much

in favor of

more

Their chief aim

influence

now was

to secure their annuities.

Stone Eater, two Winnebagoes, a Kickapoo, and a Piankishaw made their appearance at Fort Harrison before

Christmas,

speech

to

the

and

delivered

commandant.

a

very

They wished

allowed to go to Vincennes and

visit

contrite to

be

the governor,

tecumseh's return. and

235

they were permitted to do.

this

story was that the Prophet

Stone Eater's

was disgraced and had

escaped to the Hurons. In the winter Governor Harrison was visited

numbers of repentant

Indians, but neither

by

Tecumseh

nor the Prophet, nor indeed any of the most hostile

made

savages,

their appearance.

Governor Harrison a

Little Turtle sent

January,

181

in

2,

was deserted by

all

letter

in

which he said that the Prophet his

band with the exception of

two camps of Shawnees which Tecumseh had just joined with but eight men.

Soon

governor received a message

after this the

from Tecumseh saying he had returned from the

South and would now

visit

the President.

The

crov-

ernor replied with a permission to go to Washington,

but said that no other Indians would be allowed to

go with him. great chief,

A

sense of pride would not allow this

who aimed

like that of the

to be ruler over a confederacy

white men, to

visit

the chief of the

Seventeen Fires without a proper retinue. seh refused to go, and this was the

last

Tecum-

of his inter-

course with Harrison.

As

the spring of

again alarmed

1

812

came

on, the frontier

was

by Indian depredations and murders.

Governor Harrison sent out Major Floyde duce the more friendly tribes to drive

off the

to in-

Prophet

TECUMSEH.

235 and other

disaffected Indians.

for a council of twelve tribes

sissinewa,

in

made

was held

tlie

you have

said to us.

your hearts

inclining

Our

selves.

it

;

We

hope

may

let

it

band were

Tecumseh

:

:

to pity us

good

;

we now

will please

we done

it,

my

people

God that he God that the

We

will

happy

in

should do

my so.

white people

not disturb them,

except when they came to

our village with the intention of destroying are

pity our-

— they never were bad.

will of

us live in peace.

neither have

Mis-

We have listened to what We thank the Great Spirit for

hearts are

was the

May at

his

Governor Harrison made war on absence

in

effect,

Wyandots.

a speech in answer as follows

Elder Brothers

"

had some

which Tecumseh and

mildly reproved by

first

Tliis

us.

We

to state to our brothers present that the

unfortunate transaction that took place between the

white people and a few of our young village,

at

our

has been settled between us and Governor

Harrison

home

men

;

and

I

will further state that

had

I

been at

there would have been no bloodshed at that

time. "

We

are sorry to find that the

same respect has

not been paid to the agreement between us and Governor Harrison by our brothers the Pottawatomies.

However, we are not accountable those over

whom

we have no

for the

control.

conduct of

Let the chiefs

TECUMSEH'S RETURN.

237

of that nation exert themselves and cause their war-

behave themselves,

riors to

as

we have and

will

con-

tinue to do ours. "

Should the bad acts of our brothers the Potta-

watomies draw on us the

ill-will

of our white brothers,

and they should come again and make an unpro-

voked attack on us men, but we

will

our

at

village,

never strike the

we

first

will die like

blow."

This exasperated the Pottawatomies, the murders which had been committed

who excused by members

of their tribe, saying they were due to the influence

Shawnee Prophet, and were committed by

of the

young men over whom they had no spoke

Tecumseh

Prophet." " It

is

true,

retorted thus:

They

—

we have endeavored to give

brothers good advice, and to

control.

contemptuous terms of the " pretended

in

if

all

our

they have not listened

we are sorry for it. We defy a living creature we ever advised any one, directly or indirectly, make war on our white brothers. It has constantly

it

to say to

been our misfortune to have our views misrepresented to

our white brethren

;

this

has been done by pre-

tended chiefs of the Pottawatomies and others, that

have been

in

the habit of selling land to the white

people that did not belong to them

Here the Delawares saying

:

called

"

Tecumseh

to

order,

TECUMSEH.

238 "

We

words. their tell

have not met .

.

guns

at this place

Our white brethren

.

in their

hands

there

;

done that

;

there was,

if

are on their feet,

no time

is

each other you have done

that both red

to hsten to such

this,

we would

and white people had

the Prophet

tell felt

for us to

and you have

the bad effects

of his counsels."

The Miamis then made threw "

all

the blame

upon the other

We hope our brothers,

nces, Kickapoos,

a speech in which they

the Pottawatomies,

and Winnebagoes,

warriors in good order, and teach respect to their

saying

tribes,

women and

will

them

:

Shaw-

keep

their

pay more

to

children than they have

done by going and murdering the innocent white people."

The Kickapoos then defended themselves in a The tone of speech, with which the council closed. the speeches was no doubt modified

all

by

the pres-

ence of white people. In June,

demanded

Tecumseh

visited

ammunition.

haughty, and he was firm evidently

felt

much

Fort Wayne, where he

His in

was

very

old opinions.

He

toward Harrison

for

bearing

his

bitterness

the part he had had in the overthrow of Tippecanoe.

The agent made him him

to

a speech, endeavoring to induce

remain at peace with the Americans, but

ammunition was refused him.

Tecumseh

said that

tecumseh's return. he would not be denied by

him he would time,

and

go.

at last

He

239

his British father,

remained thoughtful

gave a war-whoop and

left.

and

for

to

some

Tecum-

seh went immediately to Maiden, where he joined the English.

CHAPTER XXV. HULL'S SURRENDER. The

main cause of dispute between England and

America which brought about the war of 1812, was the " right of search " which England claimed over

—

American

vessels

search any

American

that

the right to stop and

ship on the high seas.

British subject found in

vessel

is,

Every

the crew of the searched

was seized and impressed

into

the English

navy.

The people two

parties.

of the United States were divided into

The war party

of the Revolution

still

nursed the bitterness

but the Federalists,

;

who opposed

war, held that the injuries of France were quite as great as those of England.

new and

And

indeed the country,

poor, was in no condition

for a

war with

Great Britain, and President Madison's better judg-

ment was against

He, however, yielded to the

it.

dominant public sentiment, which was

for war.

Eng-

land was at the time engaged in a severe struggle

with Napoleon, and

it

was urged by those who ad-

vocated war that the acquisition of the British possessions in

America would be an easy

thing.

Some

hull's surrender. concession was

and

late,

241

made on

the part of England, but too

month

of June, 18 12, war was de-

in the

clared.

In anticipation of this, a

had been raised

militia

was given

He

of this expedition

Urbana by the Fourth Regiment,

at

fought

Harrison

witli

with the militia of his

General

Hull's

force

so large

own

at

Tippecanoe. raised

territory,

about eighteen

to

much

Indians were

seh's lead,

ish

for the invasion of

General Hull, an old Revolutionary-

to

which had

The

of twelve hundred

and the governor of Michigan Territory.

was joined

This,

Ohio

in

The command

Upper Canada,

officer,

body

hundred.

Tecum-

inclined to follow

but were awe-struck by the march of

a force as that under Hull toward

America.

He

Brit-

arrived at Detroit, and soon after

crossed into Canada, issuing a boastful proclamation to the inhabitants, offering protection to those

would remain

quiet.

garrisoned, was

incompetent

now open

officer

he should have

The capture

of Maiden, weakly

to General Hull, but that

undertaking

delayed

fortified his

proclamation to take

who

this

camp and waited

until

for his

effect.

Meanwhile Tecumseh, widi a few followers

at

Mai-

den, was actively engaged on the British side.

On

the

1

2th of June, the Prophet,

to have taken into favor

whom

enough II

the chief seems

to use in

any way

TECUMSEH.

242 he could, appeared

Wayne

Fort

at

with about a

hundred Winnebagoes and Kickapoos, assuring the

Soon

agent that he was friendly.

after

The messenger had

an express from Tecumseh.

stolen a horse at the River Raisin,

and

he received

and ridden day

The message was an order from Tecum-

night.

seh to unite the Indians immediately, and send the

women and

children toward the

Tecumseh promised,

the warriors struck Vincennes. if

he lived, to meet them

The Prophet

sent

Mississippi, while

in the

Winnebago

two Kickapoos on

He

rally the Indians.

tlien

went

country.

stolen horcs to

sorrov/fully to the

agent and said that two of his bad young

men were

gone, and he was afraid they had stolen horses from

He

the whites.

sent two Indians on foot to catch

the offenders.

When at

Hull crossed into Canada, Tecumseh was

Maiden

\\dth

Pottawatomies.

was held

at

a

A

band of

thirty

council of the

Shawnees

and.

neutral Indians

Brownstown, opposite Maiden.

Tecum-

seh w-as invited to attend this council.

"No," King,

upon

my father, this

join in

A

said he;

and

"I have taken I will

shore before

any

suffer

I will

my bones to

the

bleach

recross tliat stream to

council of netrtrality."

small detachment sent out

escort the

sides with

by General Hull

to

mail and meet a convoy of provisions

hull's surrender. under Major Brush

at the

River Raisin was surprised

by about seventy Indians and ambush.

forty British soldiers in

The detachment, under Major Van Home,

retreated with considerable loss. tion in the

243

This, the

first

ac-

war of 18 12, was commanded on the part

of the British

by Tecumseh.

Meanwhile General Hull heard of the surrender of Fort Michilimackinac or Mackinaw.

This was an

important post, being the only check to the Indians of the upper lake region, and well garrisoned

it

by the United

But through some astonishing too

common

the

commandant had not

should have been

States government. neglect, such as

at this time, the garrison

so

much

as received infor-

mation of the declaration of war.

edge of the English.

fact

was

was weak, and

His

first

knowl-

was the attack made on him by the

This event so alarmed the old American

general, Hull, that he seems to have lost heart

and

head, and to have abandoned every thought of offensive operations.

It

had a very stimulant

effect

upon

Tecumseh, however, who immediately sent messengers in every direction to the Indians with the news that

Mackinaw had

fallen,

that a

detachment of

Americans had been defeated, that they would not attack Maiden, that success was certain on the part

of the English, and

if

the braves wished to share in

the plunder they must join his side immediately.

TECUMSEII.

244

The Mdians, cess,

ever susceptible to the influence of suc-

and especially to the chance

for spoils, flocked

to Maiden, and Tecumseh before long commanded a body of seven hundred magnificent warriors. It is related in the life of the

that he and his

ing to go on the winter hunt

Tecumseh

famous chief Shaubena,

band of Pottawatomies were prepar-

when two runners from

arrived at his village on the Illinois River.

One

of these

were

rings, beads,

men was a half-breed and the other a petty chief They bore a package of presents, to be distributed principally among the squaws. These seh sent the for

him and

wampum his

Tecum-

and various ornaments.

band

to

Shaubena with an

to join in the

invitation

war against the

United States, with promise of large pay.

Hunting

was abandoned, and Shaubena with twenty-two warriors started for

seh's aid,

Shaubena became Tecum-

Maiden.

and was with him

until his death.

Meanwhile General Hull's brave men were fever to attack Maiden, believing taken.

A

"

round robin

the dissatisfied nels

American

were requested

and put the next

"

it

a

could yet be

was even proposed among

soldiers,

by which

to displace their

officer in

in

rank

the colo-

weak general

in his place.

Great

was the mortification when on the 7th of August a retreat

from Canada was

ordered.

General

however, sent out a detachment of six hundred

Hull,

men

HULL to

SURRENDER.

S

open communication with Ohio

came upon a

of

large force

if

245

They

possible.

English and

Indians

under Muir and Tecumseh, behind a breastwork of

From this shelter the English fired, and American commander immediately advanced logs.

whole with

bayonets.

The English

command

Indians under Tecumseh's

Tecumseh and

tion.

the British

This was

were both wounded.

About

of Brownstown.

made

retreated

this

commander, Muir,

known

time

as the battle

Tecumseh was It

is

stubborn bravery at Brownstown

his

was the cause of

the

their posi-

a brigadier-general in the British army.

supposed that

;

held out obsti-

were nevertheless driven from

nately, but

his

upon the enemy, and then charged

line, fired

fixed

the

his appointment.

Major- General Brock, a brave and generous gen-

now

tleman, was den.

He was

Americans afterwards

as

his

successor,

despised.

hundred and Colonels

as

command of operations at Maimuch honored and respected by the in

fifty

General Proctor, was

General Hull sent out three

men on

McArthur and

the 14th of August, under Cass, to reach the

convoy

under Captain Brush. General Brock, after holding a council with Te-

cumseh, marched to Sandwich, a place opposite Detroit.

render.

He

sent a

summons

This was refused.

to

General Hull to sur-

General Brock

asked

TECUMSEII.

246

Tccumseli what kind of a country they must pass

through

they crossed to the American

if

chief took a roll of elm bark, spread

it

and fastening

stones,

there with four

it

scalping-knife and

senting

When

its hills

cross

his

came

own

to

rivers,

took his

swamps, and roads.

embark

for crossing,

Te-

motion, induced the Indians to

first.

The American army had been cisive

on the ground,

drew a map of the country, repre-

and woods,

the troops

cumseh, on

The

side.

engagement with

impatient for a de-

their enemies.

This the timid

policy of their leader had denied them.

were now anxious

at least to

of soldiers in defending the

The

soldiers

do something worthy

fort.

They were

severely

disappointed, however, for soon after the opening of

the British batteries, on the i6th of August, General

Hull surrendered, in opposition to the wishes of his officers

and men.

hearing of

it,

Colonel after,

Many

of the

men shed

and threw down their arms

tears

all

on

in rage.

McArthur's detachment returned

soon

being unable to reach their destination for want

of provisions, and having had nothing to eat for several days.

Great was their astonishment at finding

the English flag flying over Detroit, and the Indians

engaged

in killing

the cattle which had been pro-

vided for the American army.

and

his associate

Colonel McArthur

Colonel Cass, seeing no hope for

hull's surrender. them the

resistance, sent in

in

articles of

247

a flag of truce.

shown

capitulation were

to

When them,

Colonel Cass, afterward eminent in American history, thrust tears

sword

his

and broke

it

the ground

into

with indignant

to pieces.

General Brock asked Tecumsch not to allow the Indians to abuse the prisoners. "

No

much

!

to

On

" answered

Tecumseh, "

meddle with

I

despise

them too

therru"

the 17th of August, the success of the British,

which even they did not

They had recovered

call

a victory, was celebrated.

some

at this surrender

cannon taken during the Revolutionary War. pieces were

the British fired

welcomed with joy and even British celebration,

and

kisses

their fire

vessel "

answered by the English war lotte,"

These

by

The recaptured cannon were

officers.

at the

British

was

Queen Char-

which was much admired by the Western they had seen.

Some few

General

Brock was

soldiers,

being the

first

months

after

celebration

this

killed at the battle of forts fired

their

Queenstown, and the American

guns during

the respect which they

felt

his funeral for him.

in

token of

But the be-

loved brass cannon came back to the Americans in the battle of the Thames, and the also

fell

"Queen Charlotte"

into the hands of the Americans.

General Brock had been so pleased with Tecum-

TECUMSEH.

248 seh's

map-making, and with

his boldness in

the Indians to cross the Detroit River

took off his sash

body of the

in

first,

pubhc and fastened

it

that he

around the

Tecumseh evinced much

great chief

But the English commander was surprised

pleasure.

him without the sash the next day.

to see

causing

General

Brock, afraid that the chief was offended for some

why he

reason, sent his interpreter to ask

wear the

knowing tendency

politic

Tecumseh,

well the Indian love for display and the

human

in

the

ferred

The shrewd and

sash.

did not

mark

nature to jealousy, had trans-

of honor

Roundhead, who,

Wyandot

the

to

as he told the interpreter,

chief,

was an

older and abler warrior than himself

Colonel Hatch, one of the

officers in

General Hull's

army, describes Tecumseh's appearance at the time of the surrender of Detroit.

about

five feet

He

says that he was

nine inches in height, had an oval face,

a straight and handsome nose, and a beautiful mouth, " like that of traits."

Napoleon

He makes

have seen nowhere hazel, being clear

as represented in his por-

the curious statement, which else, that

when he was

— more brown than

light

plexion. Colonel

in conversation,

excited

by anger

His teeth were very white, and

or enthusiasm.

Hatch

we

Tecumseh's eyes were

and pleasant when

but " like balls of fire"

complexion

I.

asserts,

red.

was a

his

This com-

characteristic

HULL

SURRENDER.

S

of the whole Shawnee

249

He was

tribe.

in the

prime

of hfe, straight and finely formed.

The same

writer describes the modest costume in

which Tecumseh ahvays appeared.

of a hunting his

knees

;

shirt,

perfect in

with a cape and

thrown over

which descended

fit,

to

This costume was finished with a mantle of the skin

belt,

which mantle served

his left shoulder,

The edges

as a blanket.

trimmed with a leather finish

was made en-

short pantaloons, and neatly fitting leg-

and moccasins.

gins

It

of the Indian-tanned buckskin, and consisted

tirely

around

of his cape and shirt were

fringe,

his neck.

which

also served as a

In his belt were his side

arms, a silver-mounted tomahawk, and a knife in a "

leather sheath. cer,

"when

last

I

Such was

his dress," says this offi-

saw him on the 17th of August,

18 1 2, on the streets of Detroit, mutually exchang-

ing tokens of recognition as former acquaintances in years of peace, and passing on,

Indians had

and

all

he to see that his

crossed to Maiden as

commanded,

to counsel with his white allies in regard to the

next movement of the

now

really

commenced war

of 1812."

Thus ended For

his

Hull's expedition into

Upper Canada.

conduct he has been very severely censured,

and he was, no doubt,

inefficient

and cowardly.

The

only extenuations of his offence were his advanced

n*

TECUMSEH.

250 age and the

him

properly.

easily

failure

of the government to support

Though Hull

might, as

is

have taken Maiden and secured other suc-

cesses to the

American arms, Upper Canada could

not have been taken and held unless the of

believed,

command

Lake Erie had been obtained by means of a

The

old general was tried two years later

martial,

by a

fleet.

court-

He

on charges of cowardice and treason.

was found guilty of the former to be shot,

offence

and sentenced

but was pardoned by the President,

in

consideration of his age and Revolutionary service.

By

the failure of this badly planned and wretch-

edly conducted campaign, the settlements were

left

exposed to the ravages of hordes of Indians ever ready to join the victorious

side.

CHAPTER

XXVI.

AND BATTLES AT THE WESTERN

SIEGES

FORTS.

Fort Dearborn, in the

or Chicago, then a lonely post

wide wilderness, was surrounded by bands of

Tecumseh had

Pottawatomies and Winnebagoes.

been endeavoring to induce these Indians to join the English, to see

They wavered, however, and were

which side bade

fair to

be successful.

waiting

General

Hull, on hearing of the surrender of Fort Mackinaw,

ordered the garrison at Chicago to dismantle the fort

and abandon

it.

A

number of Miami Indians were Meanwhile,

sent to protect the retreating party.

though presents were goods of the

posts,

made

one of the

ridge, said, " leaden birds cars."

The evening

to the

Indians of the

chiefs,

Black Part-

had been singing

in his

before the fort was evacuated a

runner arrived from Tecumseh telling the Indians of his victory

over Major

Van Home's

treat of General Hull to Detroit,

and of the proba-

bility of the success of the English.

success decided the Indians, as to join the

British standard,

party, of the re-

This news of

Tecumseh expected,

and they commenced

TECUMSEH.

252

by

operations

women, and

attacking the party of seventy men,

way out

its

The Miamis who had undertaken Indians, now began to feel

of Fort Dearborn. its

was making

children, ^\hich

being

protection,

They

strong incHnations towards the winning side.

refused to defend the whites and soon went over to

The

the hostile Indians. ter

it

had

left

the

fort,

little

garrison, attacked af-

and knowing that there was

no escape, fought bravely, and did not surrender there were

until

threatened to

tomahawk

who was

Heald,

but few

she

" Surely

said,

Indian

whom

A

understood

tears

full in

you

will

and

cries

tomahawk

Indian

the commander's wife, Mrs.

Calmly looking the savage

and

An

alive.

already wounded.

woman,

frontier

left

not

quick-witted

Indian

nature.

the face, she smiled kill

a squaw."

The

would not have touched,

The

fate

of the prisoners was not yet decided, however.

In

dropped

his

at a bit of ridicule.

the evening a council was held, and to deliver as they

to the English

had agreed

survivors. arrived,

them

Many

commander from

and they were

The

was concluded at Detroit,

do on the surrender of the

warriors

however,

further massacre.

to

it

chief

a

distance

determined

had on

Shaubena and a num-

ber of other Indians were on the porch of the house

which contained some guard with their

rifles

of

the

prisoners,

standing

crossing the doorway.

The

AT FORT DEARBORN. Indians

hostile

outnumbered them, however,

rushed past them into the house. sitting-room

253

were soon

The

with

filled

and

parlor and

these

painted

savages with their tomahawks and scalping-knives, waiting the signal of the

men and

Meanwhile the wo-

chief.

children sat in the

little

bedroom weeping.

"We have

Black Partridge said to them,

thing in our power to save you, but

you and your

At

friends at the

moment

this

a

loud

Black Partridge ran to the

camp

done every-

now

will

be

all is lost;

slain."

war-whoop was heard.

river,

where he

called out

to the approaching canoe, "

Who

A tall

are you, friend or foe

Indian stood in the

?

"

bow

of

the boat, his

head surmounted with eagle feathers and his hand.

saying,

"I

"Then

As am

his rifle in

the boat touched shore, he sprang out,

Shauganash."

hasten to the house," said Black Partridge,

" for our friends are in danger, and you alone can

save them." Billy Caldwell, as ed, ran to the house,

Shauganash was commonly

entreating prevented the massacre. fering the in

little

call-

and by dint of threatening and After

body of survivors reached

much

suf-

civilization

safety.

Great was the disappointment of the war party the United States, aggravated

by

in

the taunts of the

TECUMSEIT.

254

opposition at the loss of

all

the outermost frontier

posts in the North-Wcst, and the utter defection of

almost

all

the Indian tribes to the English side.

aged Miami a

steadfast

who had been

Little Turtle,

chief,

the

of

friend

The

whites,

so

was dead, and

there was nothing to check the tendency of the Mi-

amis to join the

cumseh,

under the victorious lead of Te-

rest

who seemed now

in

a

fair

way

to retrieve

the fortunes of his confederacy, and to annihilate the settlements in the North-West, so that he could reestablish " the

Wayne It

old

line

of the Ohio River."

Fort

and Fort Harrison were the chief obstacles.

was accordingly planned

to

have Fort

Wayne

cap-

tured by the Pottawatomies and Ottawas, aided

by

Tecumseh and

the English, while Fort Harrison was

to be captured

by Miamis and Winnebagoes.

Tecumseh was set out in

at

September

Maiden making preparations

to

to assist in this enterprise.

Meanwhile, recruits were enlisting with great enthusiasm in Ohio and Kentucky.

The Kentucky

troops insisted that Governor Harrison should com-

mand

them.

Contrary to law, Harrison not being

a citizen of Kentucky, he was appointed brevet majorgeneral in the militia of that State.

Early in September Fort vested

by the neighboring

wood, and

its

garrison

Wayne was

Indians.

It

closely in-

was

built of

numbered about seventy men.

AT FORT WAYNE.

Some Ohio

troops

Detroit before

its

who had been

255

sent to the relief of

was known, had been ordered

loss

to

Fort Wayne, but having enlisted for the conquest of

Upper Canada, they were disheartened render, to Fort

and showed no

A

Wayne.

spirit

at Hull's sur-

endeavoring to get

in

young man by

name

the

of

who lived at Fort Wayne, was on his way to He immediplace when he heard of the siege.

Oliver,

that

Ohio

ately joined the

reaching the

fort in

militia,

but seeing no chance of

time to do any good at the pace

at which they were advancing, he returned cinnati,

siege

where he informed General Harrison of the

of Fort

that he

to Cin-

The

Wayne.

general promised

would immediately march

to

him

Oliver

its relief

then returned and overtook the Ohio troops.

Thomas Worthington, an Indian commissioner, and

Oliver, resolved to try to

garrison of the besieged

fort.

communicate with the

They persuaded

eight of the soldiers and sixteen

Among

them.

Shawnees

Indians

these

Logan, the story of whose early

was life

to

sixty-

go wath

Shawnee

the

we have

already

Previous to the breaking out of the war, Te-

given.

cumsch had

sat

by

the camp-fire with

night trying to persuade

coming

struggle, while

him

him

all

of one

to join the British in the

Logan on

his part tried to in-

duce Tecumseh to side with the Americans.

On

the second

day of the journey,

thirty-six of the

TECUMSEH.

256 relief

Not being strong

party returned to the army.

enough

to

a fight with the Indians, the re-

risk

mainder stopped within twenty-four miles of the

fort,

while Mr. Oliver, with the Indians, Logan, Captain

Johnny, and Bright Horn, endeavored

Within

garrison.

miles of the

five

to

fort,

reach the

Logan

dis-

covered that there were holes dug along the roadside.

These were used by the Indians

in

night watching,

each hole being large enough to hold a man. the road, and

gan's party therefore

left

route rode to within

half a mile of

They then

reconnoitered

to see

that

it

fort,

and having

had not yet been surrendered,

they rode rapidly toward

Meanwhile the

by another

Fort Wayne.

whether whites or

Indians were in possession of the discovered

Lo-

hostile

a plan for taking the

it.

Indian chiefs had devised

fort

by

stratagem.

During

a truce of some days they had perhaps discovered that the officer in

command. Captain Rhea, was

intoxicated and unfit for the position.

often

They gathered

the warriors into a semicircle on two sides of the fort,

while five of the chiefs, with knives and pistols

hidden beneath their blankets, started out

for the fort,

bearing a flag of truce.

These were

with the

pretended purpose of treat-

officers for the

ing with them. officers,

with

They would then the

exception

to hold a council

assassinate

of Rhea,

all

whom

the

they

AT FORT WAYNE. believed they could induce

own

save his

off of the

his

257

open the gates to

to

In consequence of the drawing

life.

savages

for

maneuver, Oliver and

this

companions found no resistance on the

the fort

by which they approached.

side of

Finding one

On

gate locked they went on to the next.

pass-

ing around an angle of the fort they came face to face with the five

chiefs,

among whom were Win-

nemac and Five Medals, bearing

The two

parties

their

white

flag.

shook hands, but the chiefs were

decidedly startled by this sudden appearance, which

meant, they did not doubt, that a large force was

Winnemac turned and went back

near at hand. his

camp.

fort,

where they were

deed arrived at

told

come

it

Oliver,

Logan, and

to stay.

—

would have been too

previous

that

They had inan opportune moment an hour

the two Indians had

later

to

His companions, howcv^er, entered the

late

and

;

for

would have been impossible

many days

to reach the

garrison through the Indian ranks.

Mr. Oliver

now wrote a

ington, and the brave rifles,

prepared

hurried despatch to Worth-

Logan and

for fresh perils.

his

men, with new

They took

the letter

They were

and started from the gate of the

fort.

immediately seen by the savages,

who pursued

flying scouts. garrison.

As

The

race

the

was eagerly watched by the

they crossed the enemy's line in safety,

TECUMSEH.

258

Logan gave a triumphant

shout, which reached the

ears of the anxious soldiers in the

The but

fort.

scouts dehvered the letter to Worthington,

Meanwhile

the troops delayed their march.

still

the Indians, encouraged at seeing no force coming,

and hoping constant

fire.

Several times the

from burning

flames

The

fire.

succeeded

garrison

in

fort

was

in

was

garrison

extinguishing

saw, at one time, that the

besiegers were preparing for fort.

wooden

The

arrows.

watchful, however, and

the

Tecumseh, kept up a

for the arrival of

some extraordinary

The Indians managed

ef-

at length to get pos-

session of a trading-house near the

From

fort.

this

they informed the garrison that they had been reinforced

with

demanded garrison,

a

British

cannon and

surrender,

promising

artillerists,

to

but threatening a massacre

forced to storm the works.

and the garrison prepared

protect if

man

they were

utmost

resistance. for incapa-

Lieutenant Curtis directed the defence. able

to

the

This demand was refused, for the

The commander having been suspended city.

and

Every

do duty was furnished with several

stands of loaded arms, arms being more abundant

than men.

They were ordered

Indians were close upon the their

guns

in

rapid

not to fort,

succession.

fire until

and then This

the

to

use

fierce

fire

forced the Indians to retreat within twenty minutes

AT FORT HARRISON. with a

loss of

non burst

eighteen warriors.

— one on the

The boasted

can-

the other on the second

first,

They had been made

fire.

259

of

wood and hooped

with iron by some ingenious EngHsh traders.

Governor Harrison overtook the sluggish troops marching

Fort Wayne, and reached

for

belea-

tlie

guered garrison on the 12th of September, two days

Tecumseh

before

in a

swamp

five

from Maiden to the

started

ance of his warriors.

assist-

The Indians gathered together

miles from the fort the

Harrison's arrival, to give

him

day before

They

battle.

discov-

ered by means of scouts that his force was too large for them, however,

and

the garrison at the

after building great fires that

fort

might think a battle was

raging, from the clouds of smoke, they fled

by

the

fort in great disorder, acting the part of a " defeated

By

force."

means they designed

this

the garrison in pursuit. ruse,

Failing in

draw out

to

this, their final

they raised the siege at Fort Wayne.

Tecumseh's plan did not succeed better Harrison.

This place was

commanded by Captain

Zachary Taylor, afterwards the hero of Buena in the

Fort

at

Vista,

Mexican War, and the twelfth President of the

United

States.

His garrison consisted of about

men, one-third of

whom

were

sick.

On

fifty

the 3d of

September a body of Kickapoo and Winnebago Indians, with their

women and

children,

came

to

Fort

TECUMSEH.

260

They requested

Harrison.

they wished to

be admitted, saying

to

and were under great

liold a council

Two young men

necessity for want of provisions.

had been

killed the

evening before near the

fort,

and

Captain Taylor was decidedly suspicious of these

He

Indians.

gave them food, but refused to open

They

the gates of the fort to them.

lingered around,

protesting their friendliness, until the next day,

they suddenly

set fire

which composed the

been

in

At

line of the fort.

time a large band of Indians, this

when

one of the block-houses

to

who

the same

had previous to

ambush, opened a rapid

on the

fire

burning block-house, and through the gap which left into

The

the

The

fort.

was now

fort

in

great danger from the breach

which the burning house would leave Captain Taylor,

tions.

cabin, with

opening.

it

garrison answered vigorously.

however,

in the fortifica-

pulled

down a

which he made a breastwork over the

The

Indians charged desperately several

times, trying to fire the other buildings

and

to get

over the breastwork, but they were bravely repulsed at every point ble,

by the

little

garrison.

however, seemed death by

hawk

to those

who remained

tried to escape at

One was

killed,

fire

inside,

So

inevita-

or the that

toma-

two men

the breach to the hostile Indians.

and the other, wounded by the In-

dians, retreated to the fort,

where he concealed him-

AT FORT HARRISON. self

behind some barrels

261

morning, when he

until

could be readmitted.

The Indians hovered around

the fort for

or eight days, but could gain nothing.

seven

Taylor im-

mediately repaired the fortifications as best he could,

and put things

The breach

in readiness for a siege.

produced by the burning of the house subjected the garrison to

more than one danger.

the provisions of the

fort,

They

likely to starve.

It

had contained

and the men seemed now

lived on

some corn

in the

several days.

Captain Taylor at

last

their

Fort Harrison, and a large body of

them attacked the settlements branch of White River. brutality

in

lines in the

The savages were much exasperated by

failure to take

had

fort for

succeeded

sending a messenger through the Indian night.

that

neighborhood of the

been cultivated

known

at

Pigeon Roost, a

Here, with an inventive

only to Indians, they massacred

twenty-one men, women, and children.

CHAPTER INCIDENTS OF THE

XXVII.

WAR—HAND TO HAND

ENCOUNTER, AND DEATH OF LOGAN. While

the army, from which so

much had been

expected, was unfortunate, the httle United States

navy, to which no one looked for success, had gained several victories on the sea.

the Constitution,

nephew of the

An

American

commanded by Captain

general,

frigate,

Hull, a

and a brave man, took the

British frigate Guerriere, while other important victories

were gained on the part of the United States

vessels.

The Americans were

much surwho had beaten

quite as

prised at this as were the English,

every other nation into acknowledging England's su-

premacy on the

seas.

Meanwhile, General

on the

New York

Van

frontier at

Rensselaer was defeated

Queenstown

and nothing was accomplished there

in

October,

during

the

whole winter. Ignorant of the wishes of the Kentucky volunteers

and the plans and promises already made the

for

them,

government appointed another old Revolutionary

officer,

General Winchester, to the

command

of the

INCIDENTS OF THE WAR.

army

and

son

succeeded

it

was with in

dissatis-

Governor Harri-

persuading them to accept the

Fort

at

Harrison immediately returned to Piqua,

where he undertook

make an

to

were much

soldiers

difficulty that

when he overtook them

strange general,

Wayne.

The

West.

in the

fied,

263

to organize a

body

of volunteers,

The government,

attack on Detroit.

however, on hearing of the previous arrangements of

gave Harrison the chief command,

the volunteers,

while that of the

left

wing was given

General Harrison busied himself provisions preparatory

An

to the

in

to Winchester.

pushing forward

retaking of Detroit

expedition under General Hopkins against

Kickapoo

villages entirely failed,

on account of the

incompetence of the guides, a deficiency supplies,

Some

and the insubordination

Indian

General

in

food

troops.

towns above Peoria were destroyed,

whom

Hopkins was

Hopkins

conducted

against the Indian towns on the

ceeded

in the

the

of

however, by Governor Edwards of the tory, with

some

to

Illinois Terri-

have co-operated.

another

Wabash.

expedition

They

suc-

destroying several of these from which the

Indians had

fled,

and among them the Prophet's Town,

on the ruins of which forty cabins had been

built.

Meanwhile Harrison could accomplish but on account of the mud, which made

it

little

impossible to

forward provisions and artillery for his expedition.

TECUMSEH.

264

The Shawnee Logan was and did great service to

acting the part of scout,

his

American

November, 1812, General Harrison

In

friends.

him

told

to re-

connoiter in the neighborhood of the Rapids of the

Maumee.

Logan took with him

comrades

his old

in

They were

danger, Captain Johnny and Bright Horn.

pursued by a body of the enemy, and made their escape with difficulty to the wing of the

command to this this

of General Winchester. his

officer

Logan reported

He was

discoveries.

time by some persons

army under

in the

army

accused at

of treachery.

This suspicion of his fidelity to the American cause so hurt the feelings of the faithful Indian that he re-

He

away.

solved to wipe

it

friend

and informed him of

He

Oliver,

consequently started

visited the

down

the

camp

his

of his

intention.

Maumee

with his

inseparable companions, Captain Johnny and Bright

They were surprised Indians, among whom was Horn.

Winnemac.

at

the

noon by a party of treacherous

boldly offered his hand to Winnemac,

him to

well,

by

of an Indian

this

who knew

saying that he was just going to the British

give information.

much

chief

Logan, with quick presence of mind,

stratagem.

Winnemac, however, was too himself to be entirely deceived

They took away

the arms of

Logan and

his

fully while

they marched toward the British

companions, and guarded them carefort at

DEATH OF LOGAN. Logan,

the Rapids.

265

succeeded

after a time,

in

im-

pressing the Indians with the idea that he was sincere

in

declaration

his

American

he had deserted the

that

Winnemac

cause.

restored to the

but the Indians

tives their arms,

Logan now

watch upon them. his captors in a fight.

cap-

kept a close

still

resolved to brave

This idea he managed to com-

municate to Captain Johnny and Bright Horn as they

marched

In

along.

order

to

reload

arms

their

quickly they stealthily put bullets in their mouths.

Captain Johnny afterward said at his side noticed the motion,

"

Me chaw heap tobac." When night came on the

of

them going

little fruit

that,

seeing the

he calmly remarked,

Indians encamped,

They

attack.

mediately.

Their

der of the party, parties treed.

Bright

some

off in search of black haws, a delicate

much esteemed

in

Indiana.

they were out of sight Logan and his the

man

killed fire

As soon as men opened

three of the Indians im-

was returned by the remain-

who were near at hand, and both

Logan now received

Horn was

also

a mortal wound.

wounded, and they mounted

two of the enemy's horses, and,

after fatally

wound-

ing two other Indians, they started for General

Win-

chester's camp, twenty-five miles away, leaving Captain

had

Johnny killed

to follow on five

foot.

This party of three

out of six or seven of the enemy, 12

266

TECUMSEH,

among whom was

the

chief,

Winnemac.

paid dearly for his honors, but great pleasure to

him

that he

it

Logan

was no doubt a

had vindicated himself

Those who had made the charge against him deeply repented

it,

and he was the

idol of the

camp during

the two days that he lived in great suffering. his death

He was

he was seen to smile

Before

in spite of his pain.

asked what he was smiling

at.

Indian- like,

he answered that he could not help laughing when

he thought of the way the scalp of the dead

in

which Bright Horn took

Winnemac, while he kept

eye on the movements of the enemy time.

at the

his

same

CHAPTER

XXVIII.

DESTRUCTION OF THE MISSISSINEWA VILLAGES— BATTLE AND MASSACRE ON THE RIVER RAISIN. In December General Harrison sent out an expedition against the

On

River.

Miami

villages

on the Mississinewa

the march of General Hopkins' force in-

to their country the

Miamis had become anxious

friendship with the United States.

ship cooled with

of the

way they

its

retreat,

But

and when

it

for

their friend-

was well out

resolved on hostility.

It

was now

highly important to defeat them in order to save Fort

Wayne

The detachment marched

from their attacks.

eighty miles over frozen ground, and arrived at the first

ready escaped. riors

Many

Indian village.

were

killed,

They were

and two others were

A

encamped

at

also

light,

village of Silver

Indians

Heels

When

destroyed.

night

men were awakened

engagement soon ensued,

the

were discov-

dawn, that being the Indian hour

fierce

al-

pursued, and eight war-

The

ered near at hand, and the fore

had

while forty-two prisoners were taken

and the town destroyed.

soldiers

of the Indians

be-

for attack.

lasting until day-

the Indians making strenuous efforts to reach

TECUMSEH.

268

and

release the

driven off

by a

captives.

But they were

them besides the bodies thrown

tribe

last

The The

into the river.

expedition was very wholesome.

effect of this

Delaware

at

charge, leaving fifteen dead behind

and

the other Indians

all

who were

friendly to the United States immediately accepted

moved

the invitation of the governor and limits of the

The in

American

within the

frontier.

troops under General Winchester were ordered

January to occupy the Rapids of the Maumee,

otherwise called the

Miami of the Lakes.

been twice before attempted. the Rapids after a severe

This had

Winchester reached

march through the snow.

Here he received messages from Frenchtown, on the River Raisin, thirty miles ahead, entreating ance.

A

assist-

party of three hundred British and Indians

had occupied the town and threatened the houses and carry

away the

to

people.

Winchester held a council of war

in

burn down Genera]

which

it

was

unanimously agreed to send forward an ample detach-

ment

to the

River Raisin.

This was a most unwise

undertaking, for Frenchtown had but eighteen miles of frozen lake between

it

as soon as he heard of

it,

might

to stop

it.

He

detachment of over

and Maiden, and Harrison, pushed forward with

all

his

was, however, too late, for a

six

hundred men marched

to

Frenchtown, surprised the British and Indians, and

MASSACRE ON THE RIVER a sharp battle

after

When to

RAISIN.

them from the town.

clrov^c

General Winchester heard of

this

Frenchtown with two hundred and

At

morning

daylight, the

269

he marched

fifty

men. he was

after his arrival,

attacked by Colonel Proctor at the head of a force of

two thousand men, the Indians being commanded by

The Americans

Roundhead and Walk-in-the- water. were taken

at a

disadvantage and

were

those

who endeavored

killed,

tomahawked by the was soon made

to escape being

Winchester himself

Indians.

prisoner.

great numbers

The

British

were repulsed,

however, by that part of the American troops which

had been encamped within the town.

They

resisted

bravely, preferring to die thus than to be massacred

by

them

glish to order

might be

Winchester was urged by the En-

the Indians.

to surrender, since the artillery

easily destroy the village,

at the

mercy

and they would then Winchester gave

of the savages.

the order, but the troops did not surrender until they

had secured a promise of protection from the

Indians.

After the surrender, General Proctor started for Maiden, leaving the

with but one

American wounded

officer as guard,

the

own wounded were

This he did not do,

and they were

most barbarously murdered by the Indians. of them were

burned

town

promising, however, to

send for them so soon as his transported.

in

alive in

the two

Most

houses

in

TECUMSEH.

270

which they had been

left,

those

who attempted

escape being pushed back into the flames. dians started for

Maiden with

all

those

The

whom

to

In-

they

judged able to walk, tomahawking them when they gave

men.

out.

The road was thus strewed with dead

Nearly three hundred perished

in the battle

and subsequently by the tomahawk and burning, besides the six

was

hundred who were taken

This

loss

httle

wonder that the

terribly felt

by

prisoners.

the Americans, and

bitterest feelings

it is

were enter-

tained toward Proctor for suffering such a massacre to take place.

abhorred

this

Even

the Indian general, Tecumseh,

savage treatment of the helpless.

he been present, the

lives of the prisoners

doubtedly have been saved.

Wabash

collecting warriors.

But he was

Had

would unstill

in the

CHAPTER XXIX. THE SIEGE OF FORT General Harrison was now all

idea of attacking

Maiden

General Winchester's loss

MEIGS. forced to give

for the present.

disaster, there

had been great

from sickness, and the term of service of most of

the troops would soon expire.

The

siege of

was wisely deferred by the government

when

the

through a

command fleet

of

stores for the

main object

which was now

next campaign.

at present

at the Rapids of the

opposite

to

was

later,

in preparation.

artillery

Fort

and military

General Harrison's

to hold this fort, situated

Maumee, or Miami of the Lakes,

where the English Fort Miami, which

proved such a temptation

to

General Wayne, had

Tecumseh, with the assistance of the Proph-

stood.

had been collecting Indians from the

tribes

Maiden

until

Lake Erie should be obtained

Meigs was the depot of the

et,

up

Besides

during the winter.

As

spring

came

different

on,

and

the ice disappeared from Lake Erie, General Harrison

was

Maiden.

in constant

expectation of an attack from

His force was

now very much reduced on

account of the expiration of the terms of service of

TECUMSEH.

2/2 his

soldiers.

What men he had worked

however, at the

In the latter

unfinished condition.

commanded by

1813, the Enghsh, Indians,

which were

fortifications,

Tecumseh,

under

still

in an

part of April,

Proctor, and die

appeared

They immediately began

Meigs.

bravely,

Fort

before

to erect three bat-

teries

on a high bank on the opposite side of the

river.

Meanwhile the engineer within Fort Meigs

had suggested a plan which General Harrison immediately accepted, to

and the whole army was turned out

work under the engineer's

immediately around the

heavy still

forest.

orders.

The ground

had been cleared of

fort

From behind

its

a few trees which were

standing, and from the trunks which lay on the

now and

ground, the Indians would getting a shot at

some of the

then succeed in

garrison.

On

of the fort the trees had not been cleared

to climb into the tree-tops

with their shots.

This

occasion that their

ened

fire,

The English had first

however, served as a

was remarked on

musketry about

finished their batteries,

of

May

they were loading and objects within the

it

this

movements were much quick-

brisk fire of

morning of the

to so

and annoy the Americans

stimulus to the militia, and

by a

away

Here the Indians were accustomed

great a distance.

"

one side

fort.

their ears."

and on the

the Americans saw that

adjusting their guns

upon

In a few minutes an im-

t J

Plahi

>.

FORT SANDUSKY ANIi KWIRONS.

'^mMfiMimsMJiiB^?if^Si¥^^^^^^^^^ FORT MEIOS AND ENVIRONS.

THE SIEGE OF FORT mense wall of

earth, as

MEIGS.

by magic,

273

Avas presented to

man

the view of the English gunners, and not a

was

tent

be seen within Fort Meigs.

to

or a

This was

the result of the engineer's scheme, and the day and

night

wall, twelve feet high,

ground fully

A

of the soldiers.

toil

grand traverse, or earth

had been

hidden from view by the

quickly

moved behind

This had been care-

tents,

For

it.

on the elevated

built

in the center of the fort.

which were now

much

not the

of

The

life.

but economically,

fort,

When

loss

the

fire

ican soldiers

for

fire

fort

was

little effect

and

days the

five

cannonaded and bombarded, with but

was returned from

ammunition was

scarce.

from the batteries slackened, the Amer-

would appear above the embankmxcnt

giving three cheers and swinging their caps in the air.

Much amusement

vv^as

created within the fort

by

the yells and demonstrations of delight on the part of the Indians

when they thought

done by the bursting of a camp. dians,

This

mode

serious

shell

and they admired

it

the

in

of fighting was

new

very much.

always called the bomb- shells " double a great respect for them.

damage was

The English

from the opposite side of the

In-

Tecumseh and

felt

tried the effect

fire

their

guns were silenced by the American

now

to the

balls,"

of a

General Green Clay was

American

fort,

but here

batteries.

near at hand with a

reinforcement of twelve hundred Kentucky volun12*

TECUMSEH.

274 teers.

It

was necessary

eighteen

in

for

him

descend the river

to

do on the

This he intended to

flats.

by

night of the 4th of May, reaching Fort Meigs

dayhght.

An

officer

and some men were sent ahead

to inform General Harrison of his intentions.

make a

son resolved to

He

Clay's arrival.

sally against the

Harri-

enemy on meet

sent Captain Hamilton to

the reinforcements with directions to General Clay to

detach about eight hundred men, which should be

landed on the

left

bank of the

to attack the English

immediately cross to the

through the

fort stood,

Meanwhile the

to land

and

way

re-

to

it

Hamilton did not

They

until after daylight.

their pilot,

to

on the side of the

fight their

Captain

Indians.

meet the reinforcements had been detained by

which they were

after fort.

mainder of the troops were

where the

cannons

batteries, spike the

and destroy the carriages,

river

where they were

river,

who

refused to pro-

ceed until morning.

When nel

General Clay approached Fort Meigs, Colo-

Dudley was detached

rison's

orders in

The remainder

of the boats were to

hind General Clay. driven ashore.

to execute General

regard to the English fall

into line be-

In attempting this they were

After some confusion and annoyance

from the Indians, General Clay landed with the

men who were

Har-

batteries.

in his

boat

They marched

fifty

to the

THE SIEGE OF FORT without

fort

under a

loss,

fire

MEIGS.

275

from Tecumseh's In-

dians and with a discharge of grape-shot from the

Enghsh

The

batteries.

in spite of a fire

rear boats effected a landing

The

from the Indians.

mediately formed and returned the

now

They

received orders from Harrison to march In open

order to the gates of the fort

by

troops im-

v'ollcy.

a detachment sent out

by

Here they were met

The

Harrison,

force

then turned and marched against Tecumseh's Indians,

who were

greatly superior In

number, but

they drove at the point of the bayonet General Harrison,

tance.

Indians

in

who were

saw that

filing

In the rear.

recall the

and another

this

de-

along the edge of the woods

mediately despatched his aid to aid's horse

dis-

danger from a body of English and

preparatory to attacking them

The

some

who was watching with a

glass the operations of the troops,

tachment was

for

whom

He

Im-

detachment.

was shot from under him, however,

officer

repeated the order.

The pursu-

ing Americans were extremely reluctant to return,

and

do

It

so.

dians,

was

witli difficulty that

they were Induced to

In their retreat they were pursued by the In-

who succeeded

in killing

more men than they

had done before during the whole Harrison could nel

now

Dudley carrying out

batteries.

The

action.

General

see the detachment under Colotheir orders at the English

general ordered a sortie under Colo-

TECUMSEH.

2/6

nel Miller against the batteries on the side of the

where the

river

ed the

fort stood.

were greatly superior

glish

in

and pressed Colonel

ed to the

forty-

and routed the enemy, although the En-

prisoners,

rallied

detachment attack-

Tliis

cannon, took about

batteries, spiked the

fort.

The enemy-

numbers.

IMiller

hard as he return-

Colonel Miller's loss was considera-

ble while the English and Indians suffered severely.

Meanwhile Colonel Dudley had landed on the opposite

side of the river,

teries,

marched two miles

and raising the Indian

As the Americans cut down greeted by

the English flag they were

shouts from the garrison of Fort Meigs.

General Harrison

now

them

signaled

their boats according to his order.

at the batteries,

place, but

however, interested

now offered

a reward to any one

and order a

dertook to do Indians in scouts.

this,

Numbers

diately rushed into the

looking at the

General Harrison

who would

cross the

late.

A

body of

upon Colonel Dudley's

fired

ordered

They remained in

Lieutenant Campbell un-

but was too

ambush had

He had

assistance.

retreat.

to retreat to

of the cannon and

spiking only a part

without destroying the carriages.

river

to the bat-

had captured them.

yell

reinforcements

to

of the eager soldiers

woods in

their

imme-

pursuit of the Indians,

leaving the remainder of the force under Colonel

Dudley

to hold the batteries.

THE SIEGE OF FORT

MEIGS.

277

Meanwhile the English gunners who had

He

supposed the attack to have been from

the main force of the American army, and diately sent for the

posite shore.

across the

on

Americans, reported to General

the attack of the Proctor.

fled

most of

his troops

Tecumseh was

river,

and,

imme-

from the op-

so eager that he

swam

following the English

force

which had already attacked Dudley,

fell

the rear of the routed Americans.

The detachment

which had pursued the Indians returned only to join in the confusion of a hopeless

men were

greater part of the

the

Colonel

Indians.

tomahawk, and

less

killed or

upon

fiercely

time

in

The captured by

Dudley himself

than two hundred

rout.

by the

fell

men

out of

eight hundred reached Fort Meigs in safety.

The American

prisoners were

taken to

the

Fort Miami, inside of which they were confined. eral Proctor allowed

tims from

among

this operation,

Gen-

the Indians to select their vic-

the

prisoners,

tomahawked, or murdered their savage taste.

Proctor

in is

whom

they shot,

any way which suited said to

have witnessed

which lasted some two hours, during

which time about twenty men were murdered.

cumseh now came down from the

batteries,

Te-

where

he had been, not knowing what was going on. British ofiicer

conduct on

old

who was

A

present described Tecumseh's

this occasion to

an American gentleman.

TECUMSEH.

2/8

He

said that suddenly a thundering voice

He

speaking in the Indian tongue.

and saw Tecumseh carry him, to

American, horse,

other

a

was heard,

looked around

riding as fast as his horse could

spot where

killing him.

two Indians had an

Tecumseh sprang from

his

and catching one Indian by the throat and the

by

the breast, threw

drew

chief then

his

them

The

to the ground.

tomahawk and

scalping-knife,

and, running between the prisoners and the Indians,

brandished the weapons madly, and dared any of the

hundreds of Indians around him to touch another His people seemed

prisoner.

Tecumseh exclaimed, " Oh,

He

what

will

become of

then inquired where

when, suddenly seeing him

demanded

of the

much

confounded.

passionately,

my

Indians !"

General

Proctor

was,

at a short distance,

he

commander why he had allowed

this massacre.

" Sir," said General Proctor, "

your Indians cannot

be commanded." "

Begone

are unfit to

"

!

chief,

sneeringly

command; go and put on

Not long attention

answered the

after

this

the

great

"

petticoats

Indian

was attracted by some one

;

to a

you " !

general's

group of

Indians with something in their midst, at which they

were looking "

Yonder

intently.

are four of your nation

who have been

THE SIEGE OF FORT

MEIGS.

279

"you may do

taken prisoners," said Colonel Elliott; with them as you think proper."

Tecumseh walked up found

and

in their

Soldier,

midst four Shawnee Indians

placed you under to

—Big Jim

and two brothers named Perry.

" Friends," said

back

company and

to the little

Tecumseh,

my

" Colonel

charge, and

Elliott has

will

I

send you

your nation with a talk to our people."

This he did, discharging them on parole not to fight again

sent

some

Shawnee to

nation,

accompany

When

messages to the chiefs of the

and dispatched two of

his followers

the released Indians.

the firing had ceased,

an English

with a flag of truce was seen crossing

He

He

during the war with the English. friendly

officer

the

river.

was met on landing by an aid-de-camp of Gen-

eral Harrison.

mand

He

said

that his object

the surrender of the

fort.

The

was

to de-

aid said that

he might as well have spared himself the trouble, but that he would report to his commander. eral Harrison,

of

the

Gen-

being anxious with regard to the

prisoners,

had

the

English

officer.

Chambers, blindfolded and admitted to the " General Proctor has directed

me

to

fate

Major

fort.

demand

the

"

He

surrender of this post," said Major Chambers.

wishes to spare the effusion of blood."

"The demand, under

present circumstances," an-

TECUMSEH.

28o

swered the general, "

As

is

a most extraordinary one.

General Proctor did not send

surrender on believed

me

determined to do

account

" General

me

that I

feelings, sir,"

bers politely remarked.

"

an

Proctor's force

him a

larger

His present

am

at a

never think of saying

Proctor could

as

to

for."

anything to wound your

Harrison,

summons

a

my duty.

message indicates an opinion of loss to

me

had supposed that he

his first arrival, I

officer,

is

body

The is

Major Cham-

character of General

well

known.

General

very respectable, and there

is

with

of Indians than has ever before

been embodied." "

I

believe

I

have a very correct idea of General

Proctor's force," said General Harrison

such as to create the sult of the contest,

hereafter to give

least

"

it

is

may be

pleased

Assure the general, however,

that he will never have this post surrendered to

upon any be

will

and his

in

terms.

not

apprehension for the re-

whatever shape he it.

;

Should

it

fall

him

into his hands,

it

a manner calculated to do him more honor,

to give

him

larger claims

upon the gratitude of

government, than any capitulation could possibly

do."

Arrangements were then made

for the

exchange

of prisoners.

An

incident

happened during

this

siege

which

THE SIEGE OF FORT shows the contempt

An

American

MEIGS.

281

which General Hull was held.

in

soldier being near the river bank,

an

English soldier called out to him " that they would better

hang out the white

flag

and surrender."

" General Hull has not arrived yet,"

American

" until he

;

answered the

comes you may save yourself

the trouble of asking for a surrender."

now amount

General Harrison's force did not

more than twelve hundred, owing engagement on the had under

of May.

5 th

command about

his

six

to

to the loss in the

General Proctor

hundred

regulars,

eight hundred Canadian militia, and about eighteen

hundred Indians. capable of

strict

The

Indians, however, were

for

now began numbers. They

subordination, and they

to desert the English cause in large

had looked

some

and they now saw

signal success at Fort Meigs,

little

chance of

It is said that

it.

General Proctor had offered large rewards the fort was taken. to

be a tool

in

in-

case

in

The Prophet, who seemed

still

his brother's hands, though he never

fought in the war, was promised Michigan Territory for himself

ised

Whether

No

and

his followers.

General Harrison, this

Tecumseh was prom-

this officer

statement be true or not

was captured. is

not known.

doubt the proud Tecumseh would have been

delighted to see in his his

if

power the man who had

dearest plans, and had ever been

foiled

his chief obsta-

TECUMSEH.

282 cle

We cannot

and antagonist.

ever,

that

treated with

Tecumseh's enemy would

mercy

if

News now reached ture of

help believing, how-

have

been

helpless in his hands.

the English forces of the cap-

Fort George, in

Upper Canada, by

the

Americans, under General Dearborn, and Proctor

began to think

it

unwise to remain longer at Fort

Meigs while Upper Canada was unprotected.

on the morning of the 9th of saw the enemy moving away.

May

Early

the Americans

CHAPTER XXX. THE SECOND ATTACK ON FORT It was with States

great

of Indians in the

constant

source

government ernor

missed

reluctance

government consented

War

the

of 1812,

of complaint

that they

that

to

it

against the

An

the English

Gov-

Missouri Territory had dis-

rangers

which the

Osage

among them-

This powerful nation was so

was much

fear of its turning

settlements.

named Robert Dickson had spring of 181 3 among the Indian

English trader

been sent tribes

American

United

having been a

against

Indians had been permitted to raise

displeased that there

the

employment

had used the savages.

Howard of the a company of

selves in his absence.

MEIGS.

in the

on the Mississippi and

Illinois

Rivers.

He

gathered together at Chicago nearly a thousand In-

among whom was a great Pottawatomie chief, named Mai -Pock, who wore a belt of scalps around dians,

his waist. all

In the months of July and

August nearly

the Indian warriors of the North and North-West

were collected around Maiden. tended

from

Brownstown

to

Their camps ex-

Detroit.

They had

TECUMSEH.

284

and as they neither hunted

their families with them,

nor planted corn, their support must have been a

The

great burden upon the English government.

main

Upper Canada

force of the British in

consisted

of these Indians. In the

month of June,

who was now

1813,

in the interior,

Meigs was again

General Harrison,

was informed that Fort Before he

be invested.

likely to

returned to his outposts he held a council with the

Seneca to the in

Delaware,

the

of

chiefs

Shawnee, Wyandot, and

These nations

tribes.

United States.

still

Harrison

which he told them that

it

remained friendly

made them was time

a speech,

for all the

neutral Indians to take the one side or the other.

He

them of a proposal

told

made

to

exchange

his

that General Proctor

American prisoners

Indians friendly to the United States,

them

that this looked as

received the

some

tomahawk

had

for the

Harrison told

though General Proctor had

hint that they were willing to take

against the United States.

ident wanted no false friends, and

if

The

up

Pres-

they wished to

prove their friendship they must either move into the interior or join him in the war. chiefs

unanimously

had been waiting Americans. est

A

agreed to do.

for

This

They

an invitation to

the

last

said

they

fight for the

speech was made by Tahe, the old-

Indian in the West.

He

spoke in behalf of

all

SECOND ATTACK ON FORT MEIGS.

285

the tribes present, and professed the greatest friendship for the United States. that he

would

mode

know when they were "you must conform to our

the Indians

let

wanted; "but,"

said

he,

You are men, women

of warfare.

prisoners,

old

General Harrison said

not to

kill

defenceless

General

or children."

Harrison then told them that he had been told that

General Proctor had promised to deliver him into the hands of

Tecumseh

if

"

attack on Fort Meigs.

taking Proctor,"

have him to treat

for

him

they succeeded

Now,

if

I

can succeed in

said General Harrison,

"

your prisoner, provided you

as a squaw,

in their

you

will

shall

agree

and only put petticoats upon

him, for he must be a coward

who would

kill

a de-

fenceless prisoner." in July, 181 3, the Indians

began to appear

the neighborhood of Fort Meigs.

They attacked

Early in

small parties

were

On

lost in

who went

out of the

fort,

and some

men

skirmishes with them.

the evening of the 20th of July, the English

and Indians, about

five

thousand strong, were again

seen approaching Fort IMeigs, of which General Clay

was now the commander.

Previous to the siege he

had busied himself with clearing

off the trees to a

greater distance, and burning the trunks which had

been

left

on the ground.

The English

forces

now

encamped below Fort Miami, and the Indians soon

286

TECUMSEH.

took possession of the woods in the rear of Fort Meigs.

Here they could ister

effect nothing, as

the grape and can-

shot from the fort kept them at a distance.

In

the night an express was sent to General Harrison to

inform him of the siege.

General Clay expected that

Most

the English would immediately erect batteries.

men were

of the

occupied through the night in

throwing up new traverses, and preparing

Those who were permitted

sistance.

On

their arms.

mounted

Indians,

the river.

It

the 23d of July,

for re-

all

to rest slept

eight

on

hundred

commanded by Tecumseh, went up

was supposed

at the fort that

Tecumseh

intended to attack Fort Winchester.

Everything still

remained quiet around Fort Meigs.

On

the evening

of the 24th, Colonel Gaines of the garrison, with two

hundred men, made a

circuit of the fort to see

English had begun to erect any batteries.

if

the

A stronger

detachment was sent from the English camp

to inter-

cept him, but he succeeded in regaining the fort before glish

he was overtaken.

moved

stood,

The next morning

to the side of the river

the

En-

on which the

fort

and encamped behind a point of woods.

movement

led

This

General Clay to suppose that they

intended to storm his position.

The rison

express from Fort Meigs found General Harat

Lower Sandusky.

movement

of

He

thought that the

Tecumseh toward Fort Winchester was

SECOND ATTACK ON FORT MEIGS.

28/

a feint to attract attention in that direction, while

Fort Stephenson, at Lower Sandusky, would prove to be

As

the real point of attack.

this post

had

been pronounced untenable and was unimportant, Harrison directed his main attention to Fort Meigs

He moved

and Upper Sandusky. to

his headquarters

Seneca Town, leaving Fort Stephenson

From

of Major Croghan.

this

in

charge

point he would be

ready to relieve either of the important posts. the express from

sent

Fort Meigs back with

message that he had not a immediately to the

sufficient force to

relief of that

would inform the governor of would soon be collected

for that

fort,

the

march

but that he

Ohio, and

purpose

He

if

the

troops

enemy

persevered.

Meanwhile Tecumseh had devised a stratagem by

means of which he hoped the

fort.

heavy

On

yell,

decoy the Americans from

the afternoon of the 26th of July, a

firing of rifles

Indian

to

and musketry, followed by the

A

was heard upon the Sandusky road.

body of Indians could be seen attacking a column

men who were

at

then rallied again, and the Indians gave way. contest

seemed

to

the intended effect

be approaching the

upon the

garrison,

arms and demanded to be led their friends.

of

one time thrown into confusion, This It

had

who seized

their

fort.

to the assistance of

Fortunately the express had arrived

TECUMSEH.

288 that

morning with Harrison's message, and General

Clay concluded that there could be no reinforcements

cannons at the

minated

On raised,

sailed

A

neighborhood.

in the

this

sham

few discharges from the

and a heavy shower of

fort

battle,

rain ter-

which had lasted an hour.

the 28th of July the siege of Fort Meigs was

and the English embarked

in their vessels

and

around into Sandusky Bay, while a number of

the Indians crossed

by

land.

CHAPTER XXXI. THE ATTACK ON FORT STEPHENSON. This movement had been

He had examined

Harrison.

found a the

in the

hill

fort,

anticipated

by General

Fort Stephenson and

neighborhood which commanded

and to which he thought of removing

Major Croghan

offered

it

to carry out this plan, but

General Harrison thought

it

would probably be

at-

tacked before the removal could be accomplished.

General Harrison was convinced that the

Major Croghan that

told

by

water,

it

ever,

if

the fort was approached

possible

artillery,

after

and he must

burning the fort

he should be attacked by

cidal to

On

if

would be presumable that the enemy

had brought heavy retreat

land,

it

effect If,

of July General

of the enemy.

his officers,

it

sui-

forces.

Harrison was in-

formed by an express from General

movement

a

how-

would be

attempt to escape through the Indian

the 29th

Clay of the

In a council held with

was decided that Fort Stephenson was

untenable, since the English could bring of battering

could

fort

the English artillery, and

not be defended against

cannon against 13

it

any number

General Harrison

TECUMSEIT.

290

immediately sent Major Croghan a peremptory order to

abandon and burn the

The

and

fort

a retreat.

effect

bearers of this message having lost their

the night,

it

did not reach Fort Stephenson

When

ty-four hours.

it

way

in

twen-

for

arrived at the fort the In-

dians v/ere already hovering about, and in a council

of officers

it

was decided

to hold the fort until further

The commander

orders should be received. post,

who was

a

nephew of

the

of the

famous General

George Rogers Clark, wrote the following note to Harrison " Sir: o'clock

:

I

have just received yours of yesterday, ten

P. M.,

me

ordering

my

make good

retreat,

to destroy this place

and

which was received too

late

We

to be carried into execution. to maintain this place,

The impudence the fact that

of this note

son, however,

It

accounted it

to

" 1

for

fall

by

into

reached General Harri-

and he did not understand

sent Colonel Wells to relieve

He

this.

Major Croghan, and

that gentleman to appear before

answer for his disobedience. factorily,

is

Major Croghan expected

the hands of the enemy.

summoned

have determined

and by heavens we can

him and

This was done

satis-

and the Major was ^x;rmitted to return

to

his post.

A

rcconnoitering party

first

discovered the ap-

proach of the enemy by water on the 31st of July.

ATTACK ON FORT STEPHENSON. They

29

returned to the fort about noon the following

day, and

a few hours afterward

it

was invested.

Major Croghan was but twenty-one years of age; he

had but one piece of

artillery, a

his garrison consisted of

The

Indians

They were

first

six-pounder, and

one hundred and sixty men.

showed themselves over the

by

greeted

the six-pounder.

hill.

Half an

hour afterward the English gunboats appeared and the Indians were seen in every direction.

The

soli-

tary six-pounder was fired at the boats a few times,

and was answered by the English

enemy low the fort

to

one piece a mile be-

effected a landing with fort.

with a

Major Chambers then approached the

flag.

meet him.

Major Croghan sent Ensign Shipp Major Chambers said that he had

structions from General Proctor to

render of the

The

artillery.

fort,

demand

the sur-

that he was anxious to prevent

the effusion of blood, which could not be done

were forced to reduce the

by

fort

Shipp answered that

tion to defend the fort,

buried themselves in

was

its

ruins,

he

com-

their determina-

which they would do

duce them to surrender. if

it

if

the large force of

regulars and Indians and the artillery under his

mand.

in-

if

they

and no force could

Major Chambers

in-

said that

the fort were taken, of which event they had no

doubt, their Indians could not be restrained from

massacring the inmates.

The Indian

agent, Dickson,

TECUMSEH.

292

who accompanied Major Chambers, then remarked that it was a pity that such a fine young man should fall

into Indian hands.

" Sir, for God's sake, surrender and prevent the

dreadful massacre that will be caused

by your

resist-

ance," he said.

Shipp answered that when the

would be none

An

to massacre.

fort

was taken there

Indian at this

mo-

ment came out of a ravine near by and attempted

to

wrest the American's sword from him, but was pre-

vented by the Englishmen, safely to the fort.

This

last

who conducted Shipp scene was believed

by

the Americans to have been a bit of stage play to illustrate the

The

point to the ensign's mind.

forces of the English

consisted of about five

hundred regulars and eight hundred Indians under Dickson. stationed

Tecumseh with two thousand Indians was on the road to Fort Meigs to intercept any

reinforcement.

The English now

fired

upon the

fort

from the

cannon on their gunboats and the piece on shore. This firing continued jor

night with

Croghan occasionally

moving

it

little effect.

Ma-

fired his little six-pounder,

from place to place to make the enemy be-

lieve that

he had more than one piece.

sparing in the use of

was

all

scarce.

it,

however, as his

The English

directed their

He was

ammunition fire

against

ATTACK ON FORT STEPHENSON. the north-western angle of the

thought from

this that

Major Croghan

fort.

they would endeavor to

a breach and storm his works at that point. the sohtary cannon secretly

where

would command

it

brasure,

293

moved

make

He had

to a block-house

this angle,

masked the em-

and loaded the gun.

Early the next morning, the English opened from their howitzer

had planted

and three six-pounders, which they

in the

woods during the

In the

night.

afternoon they again concentrated their

fire

on the

Major Croghan immediately

north-western angle.

strengthened the palisades at this point with bags of

sand and

Later the smoke of the firing had so

flour.

enveloped the

fort that

nothing could be seen from

now made toward

it.

Feints were

gle,

but the troops at the north-western angle main-

tained

their

fifty

men were

paces at this point. the fort threw

commanding

He

men.

jumped ditch

them

officer.

A

discovered within twenty

heavy

Into

caped.

of musketry from

confusion, but the

Colonel Short, soon rallied his

his

full

the

troops following

The

in vain

;

him.

When

the

masked embrasure was opened and

the cannon did such effective

but

fire

some

bravely led them to the ditch, and then

in,

was

Suddenly a body of three

position.

hundred and

the southern an-

officers

work

attempted to

that but few esrally their

they were utterly routed.

men,

TECUMSEH.

294

The

was one

loss of the httle garrison

The English

seven wounded.

came on soon

loss

the assault,

after

was

killed

and the wounded

could not be relieved completely by either those

who were

in the ditch

wall of the

He

fort.

by means also

rying away

had a ditch opened under

who were

able

The Indians succeeded in carown dead and wounded.

fort.

many

wounded

the

to

of buckets over the

the palisades, through which those

crawled into the

All

side.

able returned to the English lines.

Major Croghan conveyed water English

and

Night

great.

of their

on the morning of the

3d of

August, the English and Indians retreated.

They

Before daylight

left

a boat

stores,

some clothing and military

containing

and seventy stands of arms, while some braces

of pistols were picked up around the retreated

precipitately,

fort.

They had from

expecting an attack

General Harrison, who, however, had deferred marching to the relief of the

had only brought had been sent preparing to

early in

disappeared.

News

Harrison that the English were

retreat,

the

He

seeing that the English

light artillery with them.

to

for the fort with a

there

fort,

and he immediately

body of dragoons. morning

after

the

He

set

out

arrived

enemy had

did not pursue them, however, for

he feared an attack from Tccumsch upon Fort Meigs or upon the reinforcements which were coming from

ATTACK ON FORT STEPIIENSON. In his

Ohio.

official report,

295

General Harrison called

"a hero worthy

the youthful Major Croghan

of his

gallant uncle."

On

the day following the assault the Americans

buried

the

A small

— among —with

English dead

brave Colonel Short party of

Wyandot

in

English soldiers. in

safety, with

was the

Indians were sent

the bay as scouts after the retreat

They succeeded

whom

suitable honors.

surprising

down

of the enemy.

and capturing a few

They brought

their prisoners

back

an evident sense of deserving extra-

ordinary commendation for having abstained from cruelty.

They were

often seen

telling the story to

other warriors, and laughing over the terror of their prisoners,

who, no doubt, expected to be tomahawked

or burned.

CHAPTER XXXIL ANECDOTES OF TECUMSEH.

At

every defeat of General Proctor the Indians

became more and more siege of Fort

commander

When

dissatisfied.

the

first

Meigs was abandoned, they pressed the to

make a new

The

efibrt.

success of

the American arms in various skirmishes elsewhere

A trader at length

was kept from them. and

for this

the Indians felt

divulged

it,

he was arrested by General Proctor, but

demanded

his release,

and the commander

obliged to comply with their wishes.

The

sav-

ages at this time held secret councils, and would give the general no information of their proceedings.

After his retreat from Fort Stephenson, Proctor

and

his forces

Tecumseh with

proceeded to Maiden by water, while

of Lake Erie and met

An

American

arrested

marched around the head

his warriors

him

citizen.

by General

there.

Captain Le Croix, had been

Proctor,

and was

at this

time

secreted on board an English vessel until he could be sent to Montreal. ship for

Le

Tecumseh had an

Croix, and

his influence with

it

especial friend-

may have been

Tecumseh

that he

was

because of

seized.

Te-

ANECDOTES OF TECUMSEH.

297

cumseh, suspecting that Le Croix had been imprisoned, visited General Proctor, and asked

anything of his Proctor

He

friend.

even ordered

" If

to tell the truth.

falsehood," said Tecumseh, "

if

I,

I

he knew General

ever detect you in a

my

with

Indians, will

immediately abandon you." General Proctor acknowledged that he held Captain

Le Croix

Tecumseh then demanded

as a prisoner.

that his friend should be

and

instantly set at liberty,

the general wrote a note ordering the release of the prisoner, saying that the "

King of the Woods

"

de-

manded it, and it must be done. Tecumseh treated the American commander with A recent writer, we do. not know equal contempt. on what

authority, gives a challenge

sent to Harrison at the

ran thus

first

which Tecumseh

siege of Fort Meigs.

It

:

General PIarrison I have with me eight hundred braves. You have an equal number in your Come out with them and give me hiding place. You talked like a brave when we met at battle. "

:

Vincennes, and

I

behind logs and

Give

me

respected you in

the

but

now you

earth, like a

hide

ground-hog.

TECUMSEH."

answer.

Tecumseh was very

;

careful that his dignity as

an

Indian chief and an English general should be respected.

He knew enough 13*

of the English language

TECUMSEH.

298

to hold a conversation

on any ordinary

He

topic.

never was known, however, to use anything but the

Shawnee tongue

in council or in

English

or agents.

officers

conversing with the

Indeed he would not

whom

he

of 1812 he

al-

speak English except with those towards felt

During the

very friendly.

ways kept an

At one

War

interpreter with him.

time while the English and Indians were

encamped horseflesh

The

Maiden, provisions became scarce.

at

English soldiers were supplied with

was given

to the Indians.

salt beef,

while

Tecumsch was

incensed at this treatment of his people.

He

visited

General Proctor and complained of the arrangement

by which, he and

his

seemed

The

The commanding

men.

indifferent

to

him

general, however,

Tecumseh's

remonstrance.

chief than struck the hilt of Proctor's sword,

and touched "

considered, an insult was offered to

You

cating a

tended

his

own tomahawk,

saying with dignity,

are

Proctor— I am Tecumseh," thus

way

of settling the point

to.

if it

indi-

were not

at-

General Proctor yielded.

The Americans always had

great

Tecumseh, though he was an enemy.

confidence in

Once when

the English and Indians were encamped near the

River Raisin, some Sauks and Winnebagoes entered the house of a Mrs. Ruland and began to plunder

She immediately

sent her

little

it.

daughter to ask Te-

ANECDOTES OF TECUMSEH. cumsch

to

come

The

to her assistance.

making

council and was

a speech

when

299

was

chief

in

the child en-

tered the building and pulled the skirt of Tecumsch's

hunting- shirt, saying, "

Come

to our house, there are

Tecumseh

bad Indians there."

did not wait to finish his speech, but

walked rapidly

to the house.

At

the entrance he

met some Indians dragging a trunk knocked down the

The

tomahawk. "

Dogs

first

others prepared to

!" cried the chief, " I

Indians immediately

some English

fled,

officers

He

av/ay.

one with a blow from

his

resist.

am Tecumseh

!"

The

and Tecumseh turned upon

who were

standing near:

" You," said he, " are worse than dogs, to break

your

faith

The land,

with prisoners."

officers

immediately apologized to Mrs. Ru-

and offered

She declined

to

put a guard around her house.

this offer,

however, saying that she was

not afraid so long as that man, pointing to Tecumseh,

was

near.

After the retreat from Fort Stephenson, seh,

Tecum-

discouraged by the ill-success of the English,

and having

lost

confidence in General Proctor, as-

sembled a council of the Shawnee, Wyandot, and

Ottawa Indians who were under him, and proposed that they should to promise

abandon a struggle which seemed

them no good.

He

told

them

that

when

TECUMSEH.

30O

they had taken up the tomahawk and joined their father, the

men

King, they were promised plenty of white

to fight with

greater," said

them

;

" but the

Tecumseh,

ment of the war

;

to our

and

own all

;

we

not

commence-

country, and

let

we

should return

the Americans

come on

Tecumseh's immediate

agreed with him

in this decision,

Sioux and Chippewas, when they discovered tention,

the

first

them

went to him and

told

him

to unite with the English,

to join in the war,

leave them.

now

are ahvays sent ahead

It is better that

fight the British."

lowers

is

and we are treated by them hke

the dogs of snipe-hunters to start the game.

number

" than at the

that he

fol-

but the his in-

had been

and had induced

and now he ought not

This decided Tecumseh to remain.

to

CHAPTER

XXXIII.

PERRY'S VICTORY.

Commodore Perry had

for

some time been busy

new

superintending the building of two

Late

Erie. fleet

was

the

in

at last

summer

ready

vessels at

of 1813 the American

for action.

Perry sailed to Maiden and displayed his vessels before the English

fleet,

Tecumseh was on the time.

which was

in

Island of Bois Blanc at the

He was much dehghted when

vessels appeared, glish fleet

and

who were on

beach to witness the disappointed

American

the

told the Indians that the

would soon destroy them.

of Indians

that harbor.

The

En-

army

great

the island hastened to the

Tecumseh was much

battle.

when he saw no

The

signs of fighting.

imperious chief immediately launched his canoe and

paddled over to Maiden to inquire into visited General Proctor,

"

A

and

He

it.

said,

few days since you were boasting that you

commanded

the waters

— why

and meet the Americans

?

do you not go out See,

yonder they are

waiting for you and daring you to meet them

must and

shall

send out your

fleet

and

fight

;

you

them."

TECUMSEH.

302

When Tecumseh

returned to the island he told

the Indians, with evident mortification, that " the big

canoes of their great father were not yet ready, and

Americans must be de-

that the destruction of the

layed for a few days."

On

the

loth of September the engagement be-

tween the two

fleets

Tecumseh and

took place.

Indians witnessed this novel

mode

of warfare from

Early

the shore with the deepest interest.

morning the English

vessels

the

in the

were discovered stand-

ing out from Maiden, preparatory to giving battle to the American

fleet at

Commodore Perry wind was so

light,

Put-in-Bay. sailed out to

however, that the battle did not

begin until nearly noon. fire first,

and

it

The English

vessels

Perry's flagship was

the brave captain

by

named

Commodore

that

the " Lawrence," after

name whose

been taken by an English vessel

left

At

at

the

vessel

all

the

fire

had

mouth of

For two hours and a half the

rence " sustained nearly fleet.

opened

was much the more destructive, ow-

ing to their superiority in long guns.

Boston harbor.

The

meet them.

"

Law-

from the English

the end of this time there was nothing

of her but a battered hull, and most of her crew

were

killed or

this

time,

style.

wounded.

The wind had

increased

and the "Niagara" came up

Commodore Perry now

left

in

by

gallant

" the " Lawrence

perry's victory. in

He

charge of Lieutenant Yarnell.

cross

in

303 attempted to

an open boat to the " Niagara," standing

erect and bearing his flag, on which was the last words of Captain Lawrence, " Don't give up the

His men,

ship."

who

did not approve of the ardent

young commodore's thus making a

The remnant

him down, however.

pulled

crew upon

the "

Lawrence

their

commodore reached

Perry

now

Elliott, that

told the

target of himself,

of his

" gave three cheers

when

the " Niagara " in safety.

commander

of this ship. Captain

he feared the day was

lost,

on account of

the lighter vessels having remained so far in the rear.

Captain Elliott immediately set out

in

an open boat,

them up

and, going from vessel to vessel, brought

where they could do the most exe-

into the position

He was

cution.

thrown up by the

sailing

which struck on

through the enemy's

doing

to bear sels,

balls

all

sides of

Meanwhile Commodore Perry resolved upon

him.

in

completely drenched with water,

this,

thus bringing

upon the English

brought up by Captain

Such

a fire as

this

all

fleet,

lines,

and

succeeded

the " Niagara's "

guns

while the smaller ves-

Elliott,

did good service.

could not long be sustained

by

the English ships, and the whole fleet at last surrendered.

During the

contest, soon after Perry

the "Lawrence," her flag

had forced her

went down.

to strike, but

had

left

The English

they were themselves

TECUMSEH.

304

much

too

shattered to board her, and

Lieutenant

Yarncll soon hoisted his flag again.

After the battle was over a war of courtesy took place between the English and

American

Commodore

commander

English

swords

;

Barclay, the brave

and

fleet,

officers.

of the

his officers, refused to retain their

and Commodore Perry refused

to accept the

whom

sword of the veteran commander,

for

not but

The swords passed

feel

back and were

forth

at last

On

the

the highest respect.

many

times,

he could

and the English

officers

compelled to retain them.

day

after the battle the

English and

Amer-

icans held one funeral service over the English

They were

American dead.

buried on the shore of

Put-in-Bay, and the crews of both

The day was

ent.

calm.

guns

A

and

fleets

were pres-

pleasant and the lake was entirely

solemn dirge was played, and the minute

fired as the

slow procession of boats carried the

bodies to their graves.

General Harrison

received

at

his

headquarters,

where he had heard the cannonading, the following modest note from the young commodore, announcing the result of his "

first

battle

Dear General: We

they are ours

and a

—

two

ships,

:

have met the enemy and

two

brigs,

one schooner,

sloop.

"Yours, with great respect and esteem, "

Oliver Hazard Perry,"

perry's victory.

The

Indians did not understand the

a naval battle, and General Proctor,

305

movements of

who

doubtless

dreaded the influence of a defeat upon them, said to

Tecumseh, " sels

My fleet being

refit,

and

The

has whipped the Americans, but the ves-

much will

injured have gone to Put-in-Bay to

be here

suspicions of

in a

few days."

Tecumseh were soon aroused,

however, when he thought he perceived indications of a plan to retreat from Maiden.

CHAPTER XXXIV. BATTLE OF THE THAMES— DEATH OF TECUMSEH. Tecumseh was

doubtless a very difficult ally to

Imperious and

manage.

him

to rule,

eral

Proctor feared

dealt with icy,

and not easy

willful,

for

him

it

was natural

to submit.

outspoken disapproval, and

his

him by a cringing and maneuvering

which roused

sensitive chief

still

more

Proctor

only going to send

all

to

Gen-

pol-

the indignation of the

now

told

him that he was

his valuables

up the Thames,

where they would be met by a reinforcement and be safe.

Tecumseh, however,

mander was meditating a the

name

Proctor.

felt

sure that the

retreat.

com-

He demanded,

of his Indians, that he be heard

in

by General

Audience was granted him on the i8th of

September, and the Indian orator delivered his

last

speech, a copy of which was afterward found in General Proctor's

baggage when

it

was captured

:

" Father, listen to your children," said "

you have them

this,

all

before you.

Tecumseh The war before ;

our British father gave the hatchet to his red

children,

when our

old chiefs were alive.

They

are

DEATH OF TECUMSEH. now

307

In that war our father was thrown on

dead.

back by the Americans, and our father took

his

them by the hand without our knowledge

;

and we

are afraid that our father will do so again at this

Summer

time.

my

with

before

last,

when

came forward

I

red brethren and was ready to take up the

we were

hatchet in favor of our British father,

told

not to be in a hurry, that he had not yet determined to fight the Americans.

Listen

When war

!

was

declared our father stood up and gave us the toma-

hawk and

told us that

the Americans

he was then ready to strike

that he

;

wanted our

assistance,

and

that he would certainly get our lands back which the

Americans had taken from

us.

Listen

You

!

told

us at that time to bring forward our families to this place,

and we did so

;

and you promised

to take care

of them, and they should want for nothing while the

men would go and

fight the

enemy

that

;

we need

not trouble ourselves about the enemy's garrisons that

we knew nothing about them and

would attend told

also

your red children that you would take good

Listen

(Fort Meigs) It is

You

to that part of the business.

care of your garrison here, which glad.

that our father

!

When we

it is

true

Our

last at

wc gave you

hard to fight people

Father, listen!

were

who

fleet

made our

the Rapids

little

live like

hearts

assistance.

ground-hogs.

has gone out;

we know

TECUMSEH.

308 they have fought

we have heard

;

we know nothing

but

father with one

an arm

in a

the great guns

of what has happened to our

arm (Commodore Barclay had

Our

previous battle).

father tying

up everything and preparing

away

his intentions are.

main here and take care of our lands

You

is

made our

it

;

Our

you represent him.

the head, and

ground

;

but now, father,

are drawing back, and

we

we

pare our father's conduct to a

on

tween

its its

back, but legs

when

and runs

Wc

fat

dog

that carries

affrighted off.

must com-

it

drops

Father, listen

Americans have not yet defeated us by land

we

sure that they have done so

therefore wish to remain here

should they us,

we

will

make

and

neither ;

we

our enemy,

war (Wayne's us,

The

!

If they defeat

then retreat with our father.

Americans certainly defeated

;

its

be-

it

by water

fight

their appearance.

battle of the Rapids, last

you

see that

are sorry to see our father

doing so without seeing the enemy.

are

great

always told us you would never draw your foot

off British

tail

know

told us to re-

hearts glad to hear that was your wish.

King,

run

to

what

You always

our

to see

the other without letting his red children

father, the

gone

ships have

one way, and we are very much astonished

lost

At

the

battle), the

and when we

re-

turned to our father's fort at that place (Fort Miami), the gates were shut against

us.

We

were

afraid that

DEATH OF TECUMSEH. would now be the

it

now

but instead of that

Father,

you have got the arms and

ammunition whicli our great father sent If

them

and you

to us

lives are in the

may go and

we wish

For

welcome.

hands of the Great

Spirit.

are determined to defend our lands, and will,

his red

to

you have an idea of going away, give

children.

our

we

see our British father preparing to march out of garrison.

his

case,

309

us,

We

be His

if it

our bones upon them."

to leave

General Proctor refused to follow the advice of

Tccumseh.

It

chief called the

is

even reported that

commander

Tccumseh had hoped English his

in

"a. miserable old

:

it

squaw."

wrongs of the Indians, but extended beyond the

for white people

American nation

haughty

to obtain assistance from the

righting the

contempt

this

included the race.

Tccumseh,

though haughty and unbending, would doubtless have conducted himself differently toward a com-

mander

like

General Brock, one

who was

of inspiring respect for his courage and

mind of such an Proctor. nel

As

Indian.

Some English

it

was,

officers

capable

wisdom

in the

Tccumseh cowed

afterward told Colo-

Chambers of the American army

that Proctor

preserved a copy of Tecumseh's speech to show his officers the insolence to

mit

in

which he was forced

to sub-

order to prevent that chieftain's withdrawing

from the struggle.

TECUMSEH.

3IO Finding that retreat of the

General

Proctor

insisted

and Indian

British

forces,

upon a

Tecumseh

once more The Sioux and Chippewas again objected, and Tecumseh said that he was at home on the battle-field, threatened to leave the English service.

that he

had no

stand by them

if

fear

of death, and that

they

insisted.

The English army began

its

he would

march up the Detroit

September Maiden was

River, and on the 26th of

destroyed.

The next day Harrison and Maiden the

in the

enemy

American

on landing.

fleet,

his

army

expecting a battle with

Great was their astonishment General Harri-

at finding only the ruins of the fort.

son, with

some

and a body of volunteers,

crossed to

regulars, over

two hundred Indians,

militia, consisting

mostly of Kentucky

was desirous of immediately pursuing

General Proctor.

There was

little

hope of overtaking

him, however, for he had nearly one thousand horses, while Harrison had none.

mal could be procured. governor of Kentucky,

Only one

On

this,

indifferent ani-

Shelby, the aged

who had joined the army The deficiency was

under Harrison, was mounted.

soon supplied, however, by the arrival of Colonel

Richard M. Johnson's mounted regiment.

A

scout-

ing party sent out from this regiment had captured

an Indian,

whom

they found asleep

in a

house on the

DEATH OF TECUMSEII.

311

His name was Misselcmetaw

River Raisin.

he was

;

a chief counselor of Tccumseli and an uncle of Logan,

but more truly Indian than cither of these celebrated

men,

for

he had been engaged

He

Pigeon Roost.

who were

Indians

in

the massacre at

Colonel Johnson

told

the

that

with the English amounted

allied

about seventeen hundred, that they intended to

to

give him battle at the River Huron, and that they still

did not

know

Indian was

the fate of the English

man

a

of

some

This

fleet.

He was

intelligence.

under the impression that the Americans would put

him

and he gave

to death,

was believed

Vv'hat

among the

a frank account of the transactions since

Wayne's

treaty.

He

to

be

Indians

that the English

said

agents had given them encouragement previous to the battle of Tippecanoe

;

that

the Indians had been deceived. self in

was forsaken

in his old

now he thought

He

said that he

that

him-

age by the Great Spirit

consequence of his cruelty and wickedness. General Proctor promised Tecumseh from time to

time that he would halt and give place, then at

some other

the chief started

mark

to

upon the

that

we

shall

When this re-

British,

never return."

one

he made

retreat,

young Jim Blue Jacket:

going to follow the

battle, first at

place further on.

and

I

"We feel

are

now

well assured

3

TECUMSEH.

1

He seemed for

to feel

homesick

at leaving' the country

which he had struggled so long.

On

the retreat the

Wyandot

Walk-in-the-

chief,

water, deserted the English cause with sixty warriors.

He

visited

General

He was

peace.

Harrison

and wished

to

make

abandon Tccumseh,

told only to

and keep out of the way of the American army terms which were gladly accepted. General Proctor continued his retreat toward the

Thames.

Tecumseh was undoubtedly most impa-

At

tient for fighting.

an unfordable stream

Dalson's Farm, a place where

falls

into the

one time decided to give

Proctor, riding together in a gig,

The two

for a battle-ground. it,

Thames,

battle.

it

was

at

Tecumseh and

examined the place

generals approved of

and Proctor said that here they would either de-

feat

General Harrison

place,

bones.

or leave their

idea pleased Tecumseh, and he said "

and when he should look

it

at the

This

was a good two streams

they would remind him of the Wabash and the Tippecanoe."

mind,

General Proctor afterward changed his

however,

and

left

party to defend the pass. forces

judiciously,

Tecumseh with a

The

small

chief arranged his

and a skirmish ensued, during

which Tecumseh was wounded

in

the

arm.

The

Americans brought up ten cannons, and the Indians dispersed.

DEATH OF TECUMSEH. Battle

was

at last

313

given on the 5th of October,

near the Moravian town, a village of the Delaware Indians

who had been converted by

Tecumseh

the Moravians.

refused to retreat further, and indeed the

place was well situated for defence, protected as

was on one

side

by the

river

it

and on the other by a

marsh.

Shaubena, Tecumseh's

says that on the morn-

aid,

ing of the battle day, while Tecumseh, Billy Caldwell and himself were seated on a log near the fire,

smoking

cumseh saying

camp-

messenger came to Te-

their pipes, a

that General Proctor wished to see

him immediately.

The

chief rose and hastened to

He

Proctor's headquarters.

melancholy expression- on

soon returned with a

his face.

He was

silent

until Billy Caldwell said to him,

" Father,

Americans " Yes,

what are we

my

we will be now marching upon us.

my

do

son," answered

fore sunset

Go,

to

?

Shall

we

fight the

" ?

son

;

I

will

The English and

Tecumseh, sadly

in their

;

" be-

smoke, as they are

But the general wants you.

never see you again." Indians arranged themselves in

order of battle preparatory to meeting the Ameri-

when they should appear. The English forces were posted between the swamp and the river with their artillery. Tecumseh cans

TECUMSEH.

314 and

his

warriors were stationed

some high ground.

Tecumseh

tion

him

in

the

the chiefs

said to

who

stood around

:

"Brother warriors, we are now about an engagement from which

my

swamp on

After his Indians were in posi-

body

I

remain on the

will

Unbuckling

his

shall

to enter into

never come out of battle."

field

sword and handing

it

to

one of

the chiefs, he said, "

When my

son becomes a noted warrior and able

to wield a sword, give this to him."

General Harrison's army had risen early to resume

His army crossed

the pursuit of the flying enemy. the river where

it

was

fordable,

singular style,

in

each horseman taking one of the infantry on behind him, and the remainder crossing in canoes. the

mounted regiment came within

enemy and

it

changed

his

of the

General Harrison, on coming up

halted.

conferring

sight

When

with

Colonel

plan of battle.

Johnson,

He

suddenly

determined to try

breaking through the English lines at once with a

charge of

the

mounted

Johnson began forming

his

infantry.

general's orders, he found that there for

more than the

act

between the

first

river

When

Colonel

regiment according to the

was not room

battalion of his regiment to

and the swamp.

He

therefore

resolved to put himself at the head of his second

DEATH OF TECUMSEH. battalion,

and with

it

315

to attack the Indians

on the

The whole army advanced

other side of the marsh. until the first battalion

mounted

of

under

infantry,

Colonel Johnson's brother, was fired upon from a

This startled

distance.

some

and deliver a second

now completely

ry,

through the English into disorder.

horses and

the

line,

to load

But the mounted

fire.

infant-

charged and broke

in motion,

which was instantly thrown

The horsemen wheeled

and did such destructive work that

and

left

moment

the

right

in a

was over.

battle at this point

The

produced

The English thus had time

confusion.

struggle with the Indians was

more

obstinate.

There had been eight or nine hundred of the English troops, while there

were more than a thousand

Indians under Tecumseh's

command.

the account of the famous Black

young man fought regiment

"came

no move

until the

could sec the

at

Tecumseh's

According to

Hawk, who side, the

bravely on," but the Indians

Americans were so

flints

in their guns.

as

a

mounted

made

close that they

Then Tccumseh

sprang forward, gave the Shawnee war-whoop and This was the signal for the battle to begin.

fired.

The shout was answered from the Vv-as

fire

returned.

nearly

all

cut

the

American

line,

and

Colonel Johnson's advance guard

down by

himself severely wounded.

and he was

the

first fire,

As

the ground was un-

TECUMSEH.

3l6

favorable for fighting on horseback, the colonel order-

ed his

way

men

to

dismount and form on

a fierce conflict was

minutes,

when

couraging marsh.

"

waged

for seven

Tecumseh

Tecumseh,

of

dead, and

fell

fled

into

the

all

ran,"

was

we

Johnson was

the testimony of a Pottawatomie chief

himself too severely

wounded

or eight

more the en-

the Indians, hearing no

battle-cry

In this

foot.

to remain to the

end

of the battle, but he said to those around him, "

My

me and do

not

brave men, the battle continues; leave return until you bring

me

Commodore Perry was ing as aid to Harrison.

an account of the victory."

could take part, however.

by the

in this battle, act-

present

But few of the men on foot

The

victory was gained

regiment

single dash of Colonel Johnson's

and the death of the great Indian.

Tecumseh had been sister's

killed,

and

husband, Wasegoboah.

A

plicated discussion

was long waged

Shaubena and some

Tecumseh.

Johnson shot him with

nel

at his side bitter

as to

fell

his

and com-

who

killed

others say that Colo-

his pistol at the

moment

the chief attacked the colonel with his toma-

when hawk.

The

ical rivalries

discussion

was so aggravated by

and party bitterness

at the

polit-

time of Col-

onel Johnson's election to the vice-presidency, that it

is

The

now

to

decide the question.

conflicting testimony then

produced has hope-

quite impossible

DEATH OF TECUMSEH. For

lessly confused it

fighting

that day, skill

in

was regarded

317

prime

as a

in

Indian

qualilication

for

and men are often selected

dignified political office,

whether anybody ever did

may be doubted know who fired the shot

that killed the great chief

Those who saw him

nowadays on no

better grounds.

from the American

side, did

know known in

know him from any who saw him fall did

His death was not certainly

his slayer.

the

shot,

not

other Indian, and the Indians

not

It

American army

for a

long time.

Many

mistook the body of a gayly dressed and painted warrior for that of Tecumseh, that from this

body much of

by some American

frontier

men, who had become

as barbarous as the savages against

waged a

a shameful fact

It is

the skin was stripped

whom

they had

life-long warfare.

General Harrison did not announce the death of

Tecumseh

in

his report

of the battle, since no one

could be sure that the chief had been nel

to

Johnson had

tomahawk

him.

killed

killed.

It is

quite likely that this Indian

was none other than Tecumseh, who would ly,

Colo-

an Indian w^ho was essaying

natural-

with his quick observation, find out the leader

of this cavalry charge, and seek to

Of one

thing only are

we

kill

certain.

dressed in his simple buckskin

suit,

him.

Tecumseh, with no orna-

ment but an English medal hung about

his neck,

TECUMSEH.

3l8

was

killed

The

by

Indians recovered his

though

it

man on

horseback.

body during

the night,

a pistol shot from a

lay in the Hght of the

American camp-

fires.

He was

about forty-four years of age, and

and mind the can race.

finest flower of the aboriginal

in

body

Ameri-

CHAPTER XXXV. AFTER TECUMSEH'S DEATH. The war

continued with varying fortune for more

than a year after the defeat of Proctor

the last battle, at uary,

peace being

;

concluded by the treaty of Ghent, though

finally

1

New

Orleans, was fought in Jan-

815, after the treaty

fore the close of the

had been signed, but be-

war was known.

judge by the treaty of Ghent, the a drawn battle, none of the

brought ument.

it

War

If

practical

are to

of 18 12 was

vexed questions which

about being specifically settled

Its

we

results,

considerable and wholesome.

in that

doc-

however, were

very

Great Britain,

after

the war, though not bound by treaty to do

so,

put a

stop to the irritating and unjust practice of searching vessels

flying

the

American

Americans, from that day to

flag.

this,

And

warlike

have not dreamed

of easily conquering any part of the British provinces.

The

character of

Tecumseh had excited

the admi-

ration of the English as well as of the Americans.

The

Prince Regent, in 18 14, sent a sword to Tecumseh's

TECUMSEH.

320

Pugcshashenwa, and

son,

pension

in

upon him an annual

settled

We

consideration of his father's services.

know nothing

removed

of the son but that he

to the

Indian Territory with the remnant of the Shawnee nation.

He

did not figure as a

man

of any influence

in the later history of his people.

The Prophet ish

from the Brit-

also received a pension

government, though not

He was

for valor.

in

the neighborhood of the battle of the Thames, but

did not participate, either out of regard to his sacred character, or out of respect to the preciousncss of his life.

face,

His portraits show him to be a

man

of repulsive

having but one eye, and well calculated to im-

press the savage imagination as one

who had myste-

rious dealings with the other world.

Most of the Indians

living near the

settlements

submitted to the Americans after the battle of the

Thames.

The

tribes

have since been removed

West, and have become retaining a tribal

intermarried with

government.

them

;

to the

partly civilized, though

from

this

Many

still

whites have

admixture of white

blood and from other causes, the Indian nations have

— more

by

a gradual

absorption into the more numerous white

communi-

The moment

a half or

generally declined in numbers

ties

than from extinction.

quarter blood Indian removes from the reservation of his tribe,

he becomes to

all

intents

and purposes a

AFTER TECUMSEH'S DEATH. white man, and

in

321

two or three generations the

last

signs of Indian descent are obliterated.

The Prophet

lived for twenty- two years after the

death of Tecumseh, dying

in

1834 among

his people

Indian Territory.

He had

sunk into a great obscurity long before

his death,

new home

in their

in the

though he continued for

many

that he

had

an impostor

discredits

overthrow of the movement

For no amount of

led.

dupes eager

exercise his prophetic gifts

to

years after the

— there

follow an

to

failure

ever quite

always ignorant

are

impudent pretender or a

fanatic.

In the spring of

1

823, Isaac Harvey, a

the Society of Friends,

member

who was connected

of

with the

Friends' Mission at Wapakonetta, as superintendent

of mills, visited one day an Indian

from pulmonary consumption. of the Indian's

time face

it

who was

He

found the door

cabin shut and fastened, but after a

was opened and he saw the

downwards,

so that he

was

suffering

in

his

bared back cut

sick

man

lying

in several places,

an exhausted state from the

loss of

blood.

There was present none other than our old

friend

Tenskwatawa, the Shawnee Prophet, who was

exercising his functions as a prophet or clairvoyant doctor.

He

body

to

let

man was made in his

informed the Quaker that the

bewitched, and that these openings were

out the combustible matter that had 14*

TECUMSEH.

322

The good Quaker drove

been thrown into him.

Prophet out of the house and dressed the

sick

the

man's

wounds.

On

the following night the friendly superintendent

by some one

of the mills was awakened

wishing to get

in.

He

broken English, "They It

kill-ee

mc! they

was an Indian woman with her

Harvey took her

door

at his

heard a woman's voice crying

in

kill-ee

me!"

girl.

Mr.

little

house of the United States

to the

|

interpreter,

where she explained that a

messen-

little

ger had brought her word that the chiefs were in j

council,

and that she had certainly been condemned j

to die

on a charge of having bewitched the poor

consumptive on with knives. tect

her,

whom

the

She begged

Prophet had

and said she would do

The shrewd Quaker,

manded.

friendliness of the interpreter,

coldly, but

operated

the " Qua-ke-lee " to proall

com-

that he

not relying on the

answered the

woman

having secured another interpreter

in

the

person of the blacksmith's son, he talked with her again and finally hid her and her daughter between

two beds on a bedstead

He

in the

upper room of

his

own hands a small house. The life of Harvey's dog that had followed her. family depended, perhaps, quite as much as that of also killed with his

the Indian woman's, on their success in keeping her

hidden.

Every part of

the

Quaker's

house

was

I

AFTER TECUMSEH'S DEATH.

323

searched, even this upper room, where there stood

nothing but

this

innocent-looking bed with

the

all

covers spread. In the middle of that anxious day there

came

the house of Isaac Harvey, his friend, the chief

He

secah, otherwise called Captain Wolf.

superintendent what had happened

though he did not in the matter.

Wea-

told the

among them,

at all suspect his friend of

The Quaker

to

as

any part

earnestly remonstrated

against the Indian belief in witches and witchcraft,

and expostulated with him on the cruelty of putting people to death on an unprovcn charge of This disturbed the mind of Weasecah

this kind.

he was sur-

;

prised to find that the " Qua-ke-lee " did not agree

with him on so important a matter.

About an hour afterward he returned and expressed his belief that Harvey

knew more about

matter than he professed

As

to evade,

to.

Weasecah urged him

promising that so

to

Quaker

the tell

the

tried

what he knew,

from betraying him he would

far

defend him to the utmost of his power. It

was a desperate

resort,

but Isaac Harvey

that the case

was a desperate one.

confessing

that he

all

knew

felt

Without frankly

of the matter, he admitted

to the chief that he believed the

condemned woman

was out of the

Indians

reach of the

who were

seeking her, and that they would never see her face

TECUMSEH.

324

again unless they altogether abandoned the idea of

the case, but

tlie

Quaker added what

chief yet more, that he

had made up

up the mission and take

close

way

This was a shrewd

executing her.

of putting the

startled

mind

his

to

family and

his

go

home. After some thought, the chief proposed to Harvey that he should go with

him

direct to

the council-

He

house, where the chiefs were then in session.

thought

the

if

"

Oua-ke-lee

condemned woman, he could don

her. like

would promise the

he would be answerable to them

chiefs that

was

"

Isaac

prevail

Harvey resolved

for the

on them

to

go,

to par-

though

it

going into a den of wild beasts, thus to

brave the angry chiefs

in

council.

He

asked the

blacksmith, whose son had been his second interpreter the night before, sistance, to let the

and who had himself offered

boy go with him now.

as-

The smith

did not believe in his success, but said that he had

Harvey, and he would also go with

promised

to help

his son.

Entered now into the council-house these

four

—

the chief, Isaac

Harvey the Quaker, the black-

smith and his son. "

told

Be

still

and hear

" !

said

ke-lee,"

and of the occasion of

Indians,

some

of

whom

He

then

his friend the "

Qua-

Weasecah.

them of his interviews with

their coming.

were painted and armed

The in

a

AFTER TECUMSEH'S DEATH.

way

that

made them

now moved round

325

quite appalling to the Quaker,

talking one to another.

Harvey then addressed them through

Isaac

terpreter, telling

them with great composure

had come with Weasecah and Simmeta

woman

smith) to intercede for the

had resolved pared to

to follow their

as they

At

at their

thought

Harvey's arm and

He begged

life

was pre-

that he had no

;

—they

might do with

Weasecah took hold of

said,

Me

"

Qua-kc-lee friend."

the chiefs not to suffer their friend the

to be

mined not his

;

best.

the noble chief

this

Quaker

mercy

(the black-

but seeing they

course, he

offer himself in her stead

arms and was

him

own

his in-

that he

to

But

harmed. submit

if

they were

to the proposition,

still

deter-

he offered

instead of his friend's.

This heroic attitude of the Quaker, with the loyal

and brave feeling,

act of the chief, checked the tide of hostile

and

for a

minute

chief after chief to the

ped up "

ing,

to the

Me

declared

all

were

number of

Qua-ke-lee friend."

the

friendship.

Then

six or eight step-

The blacksmith

himself the Quaker's friend, so

good man was surrounded

last

suspense.

Quaker, each offering his hand and say-

by

Weasecah then argued with them at

in

quite

a

that

also

the

number.

eloquently, so that

whole council offered

their

hands

in

The only exception was Tenskwatawa,

TECUMSEH.

326 the Prophet,

who

sullenly

the council-house in

left

defeat. It

was hard

woman

to

she cried. to

for the

Quaker

of hiding. They kill-ee me," Even Weasccah could not persuade her "

come out

She remained

leave her place of concealment.

the Quaker's house, when she return-

several days in

ed to her own people, and lived

By

among

in peace.

of Isaac Harvey, persecution

this interference

for witchcraft

The

on the poor

to prevail

the

Shawnees was destroyed.

gradually increasing enlightenment of the nation,

under the lead of missionaries of several denominations,

has done

away with many of

their old super-

stitions.

All dreams of perpetuating savage

Civilization produces

tion to civilization are futile.

a dense population.

It is

in opposi-

life

not desirable that a savage

race which spreads itself thinly in squalid hunting

bands should possess a

country capable of

fertile

supporting a hundred times as

comfort and enlightenment of seh's impulse

was a

taken patriotism.

people

civilization.

one

in

the

Tecum-

it

was a mis-

later chiefs of the

Shawnees,

patriotic

The

many

;

but

Delawares, Wyandots, and Miamis, who saw plainly that

it

was only by learning the

arts of civilized

that their people could be saved

were wiser than

he.

life

from destruction,

But the tribute which we

al-

AFTER TECUMSEH'S DEATH. ways pay ius,

32/

to courage, eloquence, administrative gen-

and the most devoted patriotism, rightly belong

to the

great Tecumsch, who, had his lot fallen to time,

might have produced

results

more permanent than

a confederacy of sav-

ages.

It

him

in a

more favorable

is

in the

savage tribes to

fall

nature of asunder.

all

confederations of

Vainly Tecumsch

la-

bored, for the very laws of nature were against him.

But he serves

to

show how great even a savage may

be.

THE END.

APPENDIX. AUTHORITIES FOR THE LIFE OF TECUMSEH. Life of

Tecumseh and

of his Brother the Prophet.

Sketch of the Shawanoe Indians.

torical

History of the Shawnee Indians,

By Henry Harvey,

inclusive.

of Friends.

Account of

mencement of Contest

all

from the year

Member

1681

1S54

to

of the Religious Society

War

in the

Western Country, comprising a

the Transactions in that quarter, from the

Hostilities at Tippecanoe, to the

New

at

McAfee.

a

Cincinnati, iS55'

History of the Late

A

Cin-

1841.

cinnati,

full

With an His-

Ey Benjamin Drake.

Orleans

Com-

Termination of the

on the Return of Peace.

By Robert

B.

Lexington, Ky., 1S16.

Historical Narrative of the Civil

and Military Services of Major-

General William H. Harrison, and a Vindication of his Character

and Conduct as a Statesman, a

Citizen,

and

a Soldiei'.

With

a detail

of his Negotiations and AVars with the Indians, until the final Over-

throw of the celebrated Chief Tecumseh and his Brother the Prophet.

The whole

written and compiled from original and authentic docu-

ments furnished by many of the most respectable characters United tiser.

States.

By Moses Dawson,

Cincinnati,

1834.

in the

Editor of the Cincinnati Adver-

APPENDIX.

S30

Sketches of Western Adventure

Most

Interesting

West, from 1755

Incidents

:

Containing an Account of

Ey John A. McCUnig.

an Appendix

to 1794; with

Also Additional Sketches compiled by the Publishers A. McClung.

of John

tiie

Connected with the Settlement of ihe

By Henry

a Biography

:

Covington, Ky., 1872.

Waller.

[First Edition, 1832.]

Biographical Sketches of General Nathaniel Massey, General

Dun-

can McArthur, Captain William Wells, and General Simon Kenton

who were

Early Settlers in the Western Country.

Donald of Poplar Ridge, Ross County, Ohio.

A

History of

Indiana,

from

its

Earliest

By John Mc-

Dayton, O., 1S52. Explorations by Eu-

ropeans to the close of the Territorial Government in 1816; compre-

hending a History of the Discovery, Settlement, and

Civil

and Mili-

North-West of the

tary Affairs of the Territory of the United States

River Ohio, and a General View of the Progress of Public Affairs in Indiana from 1816 to 1856.

By John

B. Dillon.

Indianapolis, 1859.

Biography and History of the Indians of North America

:

a His-

tory of their Wars, with an Account of their Antiquities, Manners,

By Samuel

Customs, Religion and Laws.

G. Drake.

Boston, 1848.

[First Edition, 1832.] Life

and Services of General Anthony Wayne.

Founded on docu-

mentary and other Evidence furnished by Colonel Isaac Wayne.

H. N. Moore.

A

Memoir

Philadelphia, Leary, Getz

Hall.

Philadelphia,

Henry Harrison,

1836.

Sketches of the Civil and Military Services of William

By

rison.

Life

Charles S.

Todd and Benjamin

Drake.

and Adventures of Daniel Boone, the

Henry Har-

Cincinnati, 1840.

First Settler of

tucky, interspersed with Incidents in the Early Annals of the try.

By Timothy

Flint.

New

By

Co., 1859.

of the Public Services of William

By James

of Ohio.

&

Edition, 1868.

KenCoun-

APPENDIX. The

331

Colonial History of Vincenncs, under the French, British,

and American Governments, from

its

Territorial Administration of General

down

First Settlement

to the

William Henry Harrison, being

an Address Delivered by Judge Law, Ijefore the Vincenncs Histori-

and Antiquarian Society, February 22d, 1S39.

cal

Notes and

Wabash

Recollections of the Early Settlement of the

Sanford C. Cox.

Britain,

War

By

between the United States

blended with Anecdotes

vidual Bravery of the

American

John Lewis Thompson. Romantic Passages Slsictchcs,

Valley.

Lafayette, i860.

Historical Sketches of the Late

and Great

\Viih j\.dditional

Vincenncs, 1S5S.

Illustrations.

and Essays.

illustrative of

Soldiers, Sailors,

and

the

Indi-

Citizens.

By

Philadelphia, 1S16.

Southwestern History

in

By A.

B. Meek.

:

including Orations,

Third Edition.

Mobile,

1857-

Sketches of History, Life, and Manners in the West. Philadelphia,

Hall.

By James

1835.

History of the Indian Tribes of North America, with BiographiSketches and Anecdotes of the Principal Chiefs.

cal

Philadelphia,

1842.

A

Full and Correct Account of the Chief Military Occun-ences of

the Late rica.

War between

Great Britain and the United States of

Ame-

London, 181 8.

The History

of Kentucky:

An Account

of the

Modern Discovery,

Settlement, and Progressive Improvement, Civil and actions,

and the Present State of the Country.

Military Trans-

By Humphrey Marshall,

Frankfort, 1824,

A

Cliapter of the History of the

War

of 1S12 in the Northwest,

embracing the Surrender of the Northwestern

Army and

Fort at De-

APPENDIX.

332 troit,

August

l6,

1812, with a Description and Biographical Sketch

of the celebrated Chief Tecumseh.

By Colonel William

Stanley

Hatch, Acting Assistant Quartermaster- General of that Army. cinnati,

Cin-

1872.

Early History of Western Pennsylvania and the West, and of Western Expeditions and Campaigns from mdccliv. to mdcccxxxiii.

a Gentleman of the Bar.

Memories of Shaubena, with Incidents Relating tlement of the West.

By

Pittsburg, 1846.

By N. Matson.

to the

Early Set-

Chicago, 1S78.

Personal Memoirs of a Residence of Thirty Years with the Indian

Tribes of the American Frontiers.

By Henry R.

Schoolcraft.

Phila-

delphia, 1851.

Autobiography of Rev. James B. Finlcy.

A

Cincinnati, 1853.

Narrative of the Captivity and Adventures of John Tanner, dur-

ing Thirty Years' Residence

North America.

among

the Indians in the Interior of

Edited by Edwin James.

London, 1830.