CHAPTER XIV.

Tecumseh-Little Turtle-Tecumseh's hostility to white men-Its cause-Its consequence-Count Zwenzendorff, of Saxony-Tecumseh's brother, the Prophet-Tecumseh commences his labors-Visits all the tribes living between the Lakes and Florida -Earthquake of New-Madrid-Its effect on the Indians-General Harrison, Gover. nor of Indiana-Tecumseh's brother visits General Harrison at Vincennes personally -Tecumseh himself visits General Harrison, and requests that the lands which had been ceded to the Americans, should be given up, alleging that "they belonged to all the tribes, and could not be parted with, except by the consent of all"-Tecumseh visits General Harrison in 1810, accompanied by three hundred warriors-His conversation with the latter-Tecumseh offers to form an alliance with the United States on certain conditions-General Harrison proposes, that in case of war, the cruelties before practiced by the savages be discontinued-Tecumseh assents, and afterward keeps his word-General Harrison desires that the 4th United States regiment, commanded by Colonel Boyd, be sent to Vincennes-Also, leave to act offensively as soon as he shall become satisfied of Tecumseh's hostile intentions-Both requests granted-Murders in Illinois committed-Governor Edwards-Interview between General Harrison and Tecumseh, on the 27th of July, 1811, at Vincennes-The latter departs for the South-Indian warriors assemble at Tippecanoe, and are harangued by the Prophet-Other murders committed-Houses robbed and horses stolen-The Prophet professes pacific intentions-Persons in pursuit of horses stolen fired upon by the Indians-General Harrison marches with a military force toward the Prophet's town, September 5, 1811-His sentinels fired upon-Battle of Tippecanoe, September 7, 1811-Indians defeated-Its effect-Tecumseh returns after the battle-Dis. avows any intention to make war upon the Americans-Afterward joins the British at Malden, in Upper Canada.

NOTWITHSTANDING the treaty of Greenville, made by General Wayne with the Miamies and other western tribes, in 1795, by which an extensive tract of country, northwest of the Ohio, was ceded to the United States, and notwithstanding other cessions had afterward been made, and considerable portions of each were actually held and occupied by American settlers, the idea of making the Ohio river a boundary between the red and white men, was still entertained by a considerable portion of its native population. No one perhaps of their number cherished this idea with greater ardor than Tecumseh.

Little Turtle, the Miami chief, who had fought with great skill and bravery, and obtained several decisive victories, had long cherished similar thoughts. His defeat, however, by General Wayne, (in a battle undertaken against his own convictions,) and the subsequent conduct of the British toward their defeated allies, induced him to renounce the English for ever, and to become an advocate for peace. He had frequently visited Philadelphia and Washington, and becoming satisfied of the inutility

of further attempts to effect an object once dear to his heart, had become the white man's friend, and at the time of which we are about to speak, was comfortably living upon Eel River, in Indiana, about twenty miles from Fort Wayne, in a house erected for him by the American govern

ment.*

The idea of making the Ohio a boundary line, was fostered also by the British agents and authorities in Canada. We find, as early as 1804, Colonel McKee, the English agent, using, in conversation with the Indians, notwithstanding England and the United States were at peace, the following language: "My children, your father, King George, loves his red children, and wishes his red children supplied with everything they want. He is not like the Americans, who are continually blinding your eyes, and stopping your ears with good words, that taste sweet as sugar, while they get all your lands from you."

cans.

The great principle, in fact, upon which most of the Indian wars during the last ninety years have been predicated, has been the preservation of their lands-more properly speaking, perhaps, their hunting-grounds. On this the French, the English, and the Spanish, have in turn excited them to active resistance against the expanding settlements of the AmeriHence they became allies of the French, in 1756. After the peace of 1763, the English succeeded the French, and instigated them in a similar manner. Tecumseh however required no such instigation. His hatred toward the whites, was like that of Hannibal to the Romans. From his boyhood to the hour he fell, nobly battling for the rights of his people, he fostered an invincible hatred to white men. On one occasion he was heard to declare, that "he could not look upon a white man without feeling the flesh crawl upon his bones." This hatred, however, was not confined to the Americans. Circumstances made him the ally of the English, and induced him to fight under their banners; still, he neither loved nor respected them. He understood their policy. He knew their professions were hollow, and that when instigating him and his people to hostilities against the United States, that the agents of Britain had less anxiety for the rights of the Indians, than the injuries which, through their instrumentality, might be inflicted on the American Republic. Tecumseh was a patriot, and his love of country made him a statesman and a warrior. He saw his race driven from their native land, and scattered like leaves before the blast. He beheld their morals debased, their independence destroyed, their means of subsistence cut off. New and strange customs, introduced ruin and desolation around and among them. looked for the cause of these evils, and believed he had found it in the flood of white emigration, which, having surmounted the towering Alleghanies, was spreading itself over their hunting-grounds, and along the banks of the Sciota, the Miami, and the Wabash, whose waters from time

He

* Little Turtle died at Fort Wayne, on the 14th of July, 1812, and was buried with the honors of war. This was after the battle of Tippecanoe, (which he regretted,) and before the commencement of hostilities between the United States and Great Britain.

immemorial had reflected the smoke of the rude, but populous villages of his ancestors. As a statesman he studied the subject, and having satisfied himself that justice was on the side of his countrymen, he tasked the powers of his expansive mind, to find a remedy for the mighty evil which threatened their total extermination.*

Tecumseh entered upon the great work he had long contemplated, in the year 1805 or 1806. He was then about thirty-eight years of age. To unite the several Indian tribes, many of which were hostile to, and had often been at war with each other, in this great and important undertaking; prejudices were to be overcome, their original manners and customs to be reëstablished, the use of ardent spirits to be abandoned, and all intercourse with the whites to be suspended. The task was herculean in its character, and beset with difficulties on every side. Here was a field for the display of the highest moral and intellectual powers. He had already gained the reputation of a brave and sagacibus warrior, and a cool-headed, upright, wise, and efficient counsellor. He was neither a war nor a peace chief, and yet he wielded the power and influence of both. The time having now arrived for action, and knowing full well, that to win savage attention, some bold and striking movement was necessary; he imparted his plan to his brother, the prophet, who adroitly and without a moment's delay, prepared himself for the part he was appointed to play in this great drama of savage life. Tecumseh well knew that excessive superstition was everywhere a prominent trait in the Indian character; and therefore, with the skill of another Cromwell, brought superstition to his aid. (See note 1.)

Suddenly, his brother began to dream dreams, and see visions; he became afterward an inspired prophet, favored with a divine commission from the Great Spirit-the power of life and death was placed in his hands he was appointed agent for preserving the property and lands of the Indians, and for restoring them to their original happy condition. He thereupon commenced his sacred work. The public mind was aroused, unbelief gradually gave way; credulity and wild fanaticism began to spread in circles, widening and deepening, until the fame of the prophet and the divine character of his mission, had reached the frozen shores of the lakes, and overran the broad plains which stretch far beyond "the great father of waters." Pilgrims, from remote tribes, sought with fear and trembling the head-quarters of the prophet and the sage. Proselytes were multiplied, and his followers increased beyond all former example. Even Tecumseh became a believer, and seizing upon the golden opportunity, he mingled with the pilgrims, won them by his address, and on their return sent a knowledge of his plan of concert and union to the most distant tribes.

The bodily and mental labors of Tecumseh next commenced. His life became one of ceaseless activity. He travelled, he argued, he com

* See Drake's life of Tecumseh.

manded. His persuasive voice was listened to one day by the Wyandots, on the plains of Sandusky; on the next, his commands were issued on the banks of the Wabash. He was anon seen paddling his canoe across the Mississippi, then boldly confronting the Governor of Indiana, in the council-house at Vincennes. Now carrying his banner of union among the Creeks and Cherokees of the south, and from thence to the cold and inhospitable regions of the north, neither intoxicated by success, nor discouraged by failure. (See note 2.)

A combination of Indians, more formidable, and more extended than any which this Continent had ever witnessed, was thus nearly completed, when the battle of Tippecanoe-fought during his absence, and in violation of his orders-terminated at once his career, and compelled him to become a mere accessory to England, in the war that followed. General Harrison was, at that time, Governor of Indiana; and Vincennes, on the Wabash, between Indiana and Illinois, the capital. He was also superintendant of Indian affairs, and in both capacities had a difficult and arduous duty to perform.

Having heard, in 1807, of some extraordinary movements among the Indians, he reproved them in the severest terms. The prophet (Tecumseh's brother) replied, denying any intention to make a disturbance, and desired that General Harrison would "not listen any more to the voice of bad birds." In the spring of 1808, the Indians in the vicinity of Fort Wayne neglected their corn-fields, in order to listen to the prophet; and in the autumn of that year, were almost destitute of food. To prevent depredations upon the settlements, General Harrison ordered the American agent, at Fort Wayne, to furnish them with provisions from the public stores. During the summer of that year, the prophet selected Tippecanoe as his permanent residence, and his numerous disciples followed him thither. From thence he sent word to General Harrison, in July, that he intended to make him a visit. He accordingly, in August, repaired to Vincennes, where he remained two weeks, addressing frequently his disciples in presence of the governor; and, on every occasion, spoke in strong terms of "the evils of war, and spirituous liquors."

On leaving Vincennes, he declared that he did not wish the Indians to take up the hatchet, either for the British or the Long Knives.

In 1809, Tecumseh met Governor Harrison, and claimed the lands which had previously been ceded by the Miamies, "because they belonged to all the tribes, and could not be parted with, except by the consent of all." This argument being too absurd to elicit Governor Harrison's attention, Tecumseh returned in bad humor to his people, and redoubled his exertions to bring about a combination of the whole western tribes.

In the following year, 1810, he visited General Harrison at Vincennes, accompanied by three hundred warriors, completely armed.. This numerous body-guard created an unusual sensation, and many supposed that a war would immediately follow. By the prudence, however, of General Harrison, the storm which had hovered for some time over the

American settlements, descended in a genial shower; although Tecumseh had declared, that all that General Harrison had said "was false, and that he, and the seventeen Fires, had cheated and imposed upon the Indians ;" and General Harrison had told him, "that he was a bad man, and must immediately leave the village."

Tecumseh, on the next day, requested another interview, to explain his conduct. On this occasion, his manner was respectful and dignified. On the following day, General Harrison visited Tecumseh in his camp, attended only by an interpreter, and was politely received. A long conversation ensued, in which Tecumseh declared, "That the policy which the United States had pursued, in purchasing lands from the Indians, he viewed as a mighty water, ready to overflow his people; and that the confederacy he was forming among the tribes, to prevent any individual tribe from selling without the consent of the others, was the dam he was erecting, to resist this mighty water." He stated further, "that he should reluctantly be drawn into a war with the United States, and if he (the governor) would prevail on the president to give up the land lately purchased, and agree never to make another treaty, without the consent of all the tribes, he would assist them in a war about to take place with the English; that he preferred being an ally of the seventeen Fires, (seventen States,) but if they did not comply with his request, he would be compelled to unite with the British." The governor replied, "that he would make known his views to the president, but that there was no probability of their being agreed to." "Then," said Tecumseh, "the Great Spirit must determine the matter. It is true, the president is so far off that he will not be injured by the war. He may sit still in his town, and drink his wine, while you and I will have to fight it out." This prophecy, it will be seen, was literally fulfilled; and the chieftain who uttered it, attested its fulfilment with his blood. The governor, in conclusion, proposed to Tecumseh that, in the event of a war, he should use his 'influence to put an end to the cruel mode in which it had hitherto been carried on. To this, Tecumseh cheerfully assented; and it is due to his memory, that he ever afterward kept his word.

The border difficulties continuing, General Harrison requested of the war department, that the fourth regiment of the United States troops, then at Pittsburgh, under the command of Colonel Boyd, should be ordered to Vincennes, and at the same time, asked for authority to act offensively, as soon as he ascertained that the Indians were decidedly hostile. Both requests were immediately granted.

On the 27th of July, 1811, Tecumseh again visited General Harrison, at Vincennes, with about four hundred warriors. Some murders had previously been committed in Illinois; and Governor Edwards had apprised General Harrison of the fact, and that he believed they were committed by the Shawnees. Both territories were in a state of great alarm; and the secretary of war was officially notified, that if the General Government did not take measures to protect the inhabitants, they were deter