“Regions of beauty there the rovers found;
The flowery hills with emerald woods were crowned;
Spread o'er the vast savannas, buffalo herds
Ranged without master; and the bright winged birds
Made gay the sunshine as they glanced along,
Or turned the air to music with their song.”
MONTGOMERY.
To preserve unity, and also to explain some portions of our story,
which may seem to wear a mysterious colouring, the thread of our
narrative requires that we should again return to the brothers,
Tecumseh and Elkswatawa. As will be recollected, at the treaty of
Greenville, in '95, they were too young to be allowed a voice in
council; for, among the aborigines, wisdom and age are regarded as
almost synonymous terms, and no exploit, however daring, nor
reputation, however well earned, is ever regarded as a sufficient
equivalent for the want of years. Previous to that date, however,
Tecumseh, as the leader of a roving band, had, in the estimation of
his countrymen, won for himself the reputation of a great warrior; and
when, although it was stern necessity which forced them, he saw the
chieftains of his own and other tribes, about to surrender all for
which they had so long contended, he would not witness the humiliating
compact, but beckoning to his brother, they left the council, that
they might avoid the hated face of the white men, and plunging deeper
into the forest, rove where yet they could be wild and free.
Satisfied that, under existing circumstances, they could do nothing
which would materially benefit their tribe, or tend in any way to
effect a restoration of their lands, they passed several years
wandering far in the wilderness, and were rarely known to mingle with
their countrymen. But when the tidings that a firm peace had been
established were spread throughout the country, and the uninterrupted
quiet of a few years proclaimed those tidings true, swarms of
emigrants were seen hurrying on to the west. With their arrival,
encroachments were commenced on the lands of the Indians, and with
these encroachments, again appeared Tecumseh and his brother. They
ranged the frontier from north to south, and viewed in silence the
ravages which the great influx of strangers was making upon their
lands. They then returned from south to north, that they might more
fully acquaint themselves with the power and resources of the whites;
but when they returned, they found that their former footsteps had
been effaced by the rapidly swelling flood; and they made for
themselves a new path, farther in the forest, upon lands which were as
yet untouched by the inundation. And often did they pause, and in
silence contemplate the tide which was sweeping along, and which they
saw they had no means of opposing; and their bosoms heaved, and they
wept, when looking a few years into the future, they saw the fate of
the red men.
But when the brothers beheld these things, although no star of hope
shone to illumine their path, they resolved to make an effort to free
their country; to unite the tribes in one desperate struggle, and at
least die nobly in its defence. History assigns the summer of 1806, as
the period at which Elkswatawa and Tecumseh, who had resided apart for
some time, met by appointment, to discuss matters of grave import. And
since their meeting at that time exerts a serious influence on the
story we are telling, or rather since the incidents arising therefrom,
told almost without colouring, are to form the chief subject of the
following pages, we must be pardoned for going somewhat minutely into
detail.
To give vent to their feelings, and arrange their plans, was the
object of their present meeting. The morning was beautiful, and the
place selected by the brothers, far from their wigwams, was wild and
picturesque, and as quiet as it could be, surrounded by breathing
nature. The gravity of the speakers, indicated that indeed no
common-place theme was to be discussed, and the spot selected for
their conference, seemed chosen that its associations, if necessary,
might stimulate them in the execution of the plans they were about to
adopt. An Indian mound, beneath which might have slept a thousand
warriors, was the chosen spot; rising up some forty or fifty feet
above the plain, which lay spread out before them, it presented a
beautiful landscape of prairie and forest,—the former dotted with many
wild herds, browsing on its pasturage; and the whole scene untenanted
by human beings, save alone the two above mentioned lords of the
forest. Reclining an its top, and gazing upon the deep blue heavens,
they were for some time silent, showing by that silence, the deep
interest they felt in a subject, for the discussion of which they had
now met.
At last, Tecumseh rising up, said:—“Brother, I have sought this
meeting that we might hold a talk. I have visions of the future. Our
people must wake up, or the plough of the pale face will upturn the
hunting fields of the red men.”
“When, obeying thy call, I left my wigwam,” said Elkswatawa, “I knew
not thy purpose. I knew not there was a red man who would dare speak
of the wrongs of his country. But thou art of my mind, brother.” Then
pausing:—“Where are the fields over which in boyhood we hunted? Gone.
Where rest the bones of our fathers? They whiten the fields of the
stranger: they make grow the corn of the pale face.”
“Yes,” replied Tecumseh, “far, far, from the home of his children. But
they are crying unto his sons for vengeance; I hear their voice in the
running streams, I hear it borne on the winds as they sweep along.”
“Then we will dig up the tomahawk,” said Elkswatawa. “Onward be our
battle cry, and the red torch shall blaze until no red man is left to
kindle it, or until no wigwam remains to shelter a pale face.”
“Thou speakest well,” said Tecumseh, “we must brighten our tomahawks,
and the war whoop must ring. The pale faces like a mighty river are
sweeping over our lands. We must make a dam to resist them, or we
shall have not a hole to hide in, not a lap of earth whereon to lay
our heads. They are always hungry. If you give them land to day, they
want more to-morrow. They are never satisfied, but will drive us away
into the big Salt Lake.” Then, pausing for a moment, he burst forth
with renewed energy. “No; it shall never be. Sooner shall our streams
run red with the blood of the dying, our plains grow white with the
bones of the slain. Shall the children of the sun be wronged, and not
seek vengeance? Yes, brother. But it shall be when the mountains fall,
and rivers cease to flow.”
“Shall the red men be like the beasts of the forest,” said Elkswatawa,
“and seek for holes to hide in? No; let us sharpen our knives and
feather our arrows, and in coming years the red men shall ask, ‘lives
there a pale face?’”
Tecumseh, wrapped in gloom, turned to Elkswatawa, and his face
betrayed that some unwelcome thought lingered in his mind.
“Knowest thou, Elkswatawa,” said he, “the numbers of the pale faces?
Countless are they as the leaves of the forest.”
“I know not,” replied Elkswatawa. “Hast thou counted the tribes of the
red men? Call on the north, the south, and the setting sun; bid them
pour forth their dusky warriors, and a cloud would arise so dark, the
sun would be hid; cause it to roll on to the homes of the white men,
and burst over their wigwam. Hast thou seen a whirlwind when it sweeps
through the forest? It lasts but a moment, and 'tis gone; the leaves
are stripped from the trees and scattered to the winds. Thou sayest
the white men are like the leaves of the forest.”
“Thy words are sweeter to my ears than the running of waters,” said
Tecumseh. “War shall rage, but not yet. When again we kindle the
torch, and grasp the tomahawk, every red man who lives shall cry out
for vengeance. The Great Spirit wishes it. What makes the power of the
‘Father of waters?’ The rills which flow from the mountain tops, and
hurry to meet him, through a thousand valleys.”
Elkswatawa grasped the hand of his brother. “The vision is bright,”
said he. “It was the same to Pontiac, and the settlements trembled at
the gathering of his warriors. He was great among the tribes. So shall
be Tecumseh. The mind of Elkswatawa has long been troubled. He has
slept upon the graves of the red men, and their spirits have sung to
him in the winds of the night. They cried for vengeance, and said they
were not happy in their hunting grounds.”
“They shall have it,” said Tecumseh, “and the pale faces, like snow
drifts, shall be gathered in heaps upon the plains.”
“Then we agree,” said Elkswatawa. “The red men must be united. They
must be all tied strongly together. They must think alike, and one
spirit must lead them on to battle.”
“We must become one people,” said Tecumseh; “without it, there is no
hope. But here lies a log in our path; it is this; dissensions exist
among the red men. Not only is one tribe arrayed against another, but
even members of the same tribe against each other. There are fathers
who would raise the tomahawk against their children, and there are
children who would drink the blood of their fathers. Can'st thou
reconcile these differences, and unite all by one common tie?”
“I can.”
“How?”
“Are we not all children of the Great Spirit?”
“We are.”
“Then,” said Elkswatawa, “the Great Spirit must unite us, and one
common wrong incite us to action. A messenger from the Manito must go
among the red men, and preach the word. It must tie them together,
until a wrong done one, is felt by the whole; until one mind, is the
mind of all. Then let the war club be raised. Hast thou seen the
torrent when it rushes from the mountains? or the wild horse of the
prairie when he flies along with his countless troop?”
“Yes,” cried Tecumseh, animated by the glowing vision, “the music of
coming feet seems already floating in the air. Like the heavy tread of
a herd of buffalos, I hear them tramping across the plains. Yes, let
the red men come on, and every leaf of the forest shall be stirred as
they move along, and the war whoop shall ring, and the red torch
blaze. Then the Indian warrior shall cry out ‘where is the pale face?’
and there shall be none left to answer. They shall sleep, and wake no
more.”
“It shall be so,” said Elkswatawa, “but time and toil and labour must
be borne with. We must work and not tire. Nothing must drive us from
our purpose. Like a steady stream we must continue our course. Our
ears must not hear what people say of us. Though they laugh at us, our
passions must go to sleep. Still the red men must be aroused. To the
strong, we must give honey. Over the weak, we must hold the tomahawk.
And to what all this is to lead to, for a time, must be buried deep in
the ground. No one must know it.”
“Then to our purpose;” said Tecumseh, “you have thought upon this
subject; give me your plans.”
“Superstition must do our work,” said Elkswatawa, “and by it we must
master them. We must excite their fears. We must seem to work
miracles. We must see into the future, and the red men must be
troubled until they say, ‘behold the agents of the Great Spirit!’ When
we have done this, we lead them as we please.”
“Then a Prophet must arise.”
“Even so.”
“Where shall we find a Prophet?” said Tecumseh. “Shall I turn
Prophet?”
“No, brother; you are wise above most of the red men in the gift of
speech. Your words flow sweet as honey from the hive. But you cannot
dissemble. I can. I am the Prophet, you are my convert, and as such,
must paint to them what they were before the stranger came among them,
and make their misfortunes a judgment from the Great Spirit on account
of their dissensions and evil deeds. Tell them how they may wipe it
away; but above all, talk to them of the glory of their fathers; tell
them that their spirits are unhappy in their hunting grounds; talk to
them of days that are gone; when the children of the sun were masters
of the world; then change the scene, and dwell upon their present
condition. Preach to them peace, aye, peace; yet make them dream of
war and of vengeance, and cry for their lands which have been taken
away. This must you do, and you must have no home; let your wanderings
be from the big lakes to the setting sun, from where the ‘Father of
waters’ takes its rise, even unto the far south; wherever an Indian
fire burns, there must be heard the voice of Tecumseh.”
“And thou art the Prophet.”
“I am. This very night shall the Great Spirit hold a talk with me, and
to-morrow will I tell it to the red men. Then will I be troubled, and
fast, and sleep in the forest; and the Great Spirit shall again appear
to me, and again will I preach, and again, and again, until anxiety
shall appear in every face, and wandering about each one shall ask,
‘what is the matter?’ Thou thyself must wonder and disbelieve; let
time intervene, then be convinced; commence thy wanderings, and
support as thou knowest how my doctrines. For our tribe alone, at
first will we labour; having gained a mastery over that, and bound it
to us by fetters which none but the wise know how to forge, then will
we commence the campaign.”
“Hast thou studied thy character?” inquired Tecumseh. “The power of a
Prophet is great when established, loud in its voice as the rolling
thunder, fatal in its decrees, as the forked lightning; yet, in its
origin, 'tis but the gush of a fountain, or the twig of a tree.”
“I have. Philip and Pontiac endeavoured to do what we intend; they
failed, yet the earth trembled under their operations. I have studied
their histories. Many Prophets have arisen in days past and been for a
time all powerful. I have considered their plans, I have learned their
tricks, their deceptions, their practices; gathering something from
all I will perfect my character, and form my medicine bag, and with it
will I trouble the red men, and they shall know no quiet until the
same spirit animates every wandering tribe.”
“And to-morrow thou beginnest?”
“To night I have a vision, to-morrow I tell it.”
“Shall our purpose be known to a living soul?”
“No;” said Elkswatawa, “not yet; bury it deep, deep in the ground.”
“Then,” said Tecumseh, “let a moon pass away, and we will again meet;”
and rising, they sought their respective wigwams.
How inadequate sometimes are circumstances to their results? Is there
one of us whose life has not been influenced by a circumstance deemed
at the time trivial in its nature, or is there one of us who cannot
trace many of the most material events in our own lives to
circumstances apparently so trifling, that at the time of their
happening, we would not have changed them, if we could, by a wish. Not
only have individuals felt the force of the above remark, but even
empires. It is said, with how much truth I know not, that Buonaparte,
when leaving the military school at Brienne, applied for employment in
the Turkish army, and contemplated entering into the service of the
Grand Seignor. If it be true, what a source for speculation! What a
multitude of events hung suspended upon that application! How many
lives were numbered upon its refusal? What if the blood which Napoleon
caused to flow, had at that moment rushed by in a torrent? What a
startling vision for the Mussulman, could he have seen in the future,
that his employment of Napoleon would change his destiny, and reserve
for a different fate the countless thousands whom his mad ambition
sacrificed? What a source of speculation in the conduct of the Pasha!
was he an instrument in the hands of high Heaven, settling the fate of
the thousands whose destiny depended thereon, or was his refusal but
the result of blind chance?
It is but comparing small things with great, to advert to the meeting
of the Indian brothers in connexion with the alleged application of
Napoleon. Though less in its consequences, it was not to some extent,
less fatal in its results; and served to produce events darker than
which none are to be found on the page of history.
How sad were the effects of that conversation! How many, while it was
going on, were in the possession of health and happiness, who
afterward, on account of it were made to writhe at the stake; and how
many, both red men and white, did it hurry on to an untimely grave!
The consequences are remarkable, because the character was assumed by
one aware of its weakness, not by a fanatic believing what he
preached, and led on by a bigoted zeal; but by one who knew that it
must be founded in deception, and supported by trick, cunning, and
treachery. Aware of this, it will be a source of interest to trace the
petty devices which were used by the new made Prophet, in order to
enable him to obtain a mastery over the uncultivated minds of the
aborigines; and it will be the more interesting, when we reflect, that
he so far succeeded, as to establish for himself a power, which not
only spread terror and dismay along our frontiers, but which enabled
him to order to the stake those of his own race who opposed his
schemes, even though they were the chiefs of their tribes.