THE SHAWNEE BROTHERS
--_The Prophet as an Indian Priest and Tecumseh as a political
organizer--The episode of the eclipse of 1806--Tecumseh's personal
appearance described._
The confederacy of Tecumseh was established upon a priesthood. Let us
regard the priest. He was a character remarkable enough to invite the
attention of all the leading men of that day, including Jefferson. He
was subtle and crafty enough to delude Harrison into the belief that he
might be a friend instead of a foe.
The account related by Simon Kenton, and vouched for by John Johnston
and Anthony Shane, is that Tecumseh, Laulewasikaw, the Prophet, and a
third brother, Kumskaukau, were triplets; that Tecumseh was the youngest
or last born of the three; that "this event so extraordinary among the
Indian tribes, with whom a double birth is quite uncommon, struck the
mind of the people as supernatural, and marked him and his brothers with
the prestige of future greatness--that the Great Spirit would direct
them to the achievement of something great." The date of this
extraordinary event is given by most authors as 1768, making Tecumseh
and the Prophet some five years the seniors of General Harrison. "They
were born in a cabin or hut, constructed of round saplings chinked with
sticks and clay, near the mouth of Stillwater, on the upper part of its
junction with the Great Miami, then a pleasant plateau of land, with a
field of corn not subject to overflow."
Of the early life of the Prophet not much is known. "According to one
account he was noted in his earlier years for stupidity and
intoxication; but one day, while lighting his pipe in his cabin, he fell
back apparently lifeless and remained in that condition until his
friends had assembled for the funeral, when he revived from his trance,
quieted their alarm, and announced that he had been conducted to the
spirit world." As an orator, he is said to have been even more powerful
than Tecumseh himself, and his great influence in after years among the
various tribes would seem to bear that statement out. However, he was
boastful, arrogant, at times cruel, and never enjoyed the reputation for
honesty and integrity that his more distinguished brother did. In
personal appearance he was not prepossessing. He had lost one eye,
"which defect he concealed by wearing a dark veil or handkerchief over
the disfigured organ." It has been related that he was dominated to some
extent by his wife, who was regarded by the squaws at the Prophet's Town
as a queen.
Whole nations are at times moved with a sort of religious fervor or
frenzy which extends to all ranks and stations. During these periods
strange mental phenomena are at times apparent, great social and
political movements are inaugurated, and the whole complexion of affairs
seems to undergo a rapid and sometimes radical change. Such a movement
occurred among the Indian tribes of Ohio and those along the Wabash
about the beginning of the year 1806. At this time a part of the
scattered and broken remnants of the Shawnee tribe had been gathered
together under the Prophet and Tecumseh at Greenville, Ohio. In November
of the year before the Prophet had "assembled a considerable number of
Shawnees, Wyandots, Ottawas and Senecas, at Wapakoneta, on the Auglaize
river, when he unfolded to them the new character with which he was
clothed, and made his first public effort in that career of religious
imposition, which in a few years was felt by the remote tribes of the
upper lakes, and on the broad plains which stretched beyond the
Mississippi." The appearance of the Prophet was not only highly dramatic
but extremely well-timed. The savage mind was filled with gloomy
forebodings. The ravages of "fire-water," the intermixture of the races,
the trespassing of the white settlers on the Indian domain, and the
rapid disappearance of many of the old hunting grounds, all betokened a
sad destiny for the red man. Naturally superstitious, he was prepared
for the advent of some divine agency to help him in his distress. No one
understood this better than the Prophet. He may have been the dupe of
his own imposture, but impostors are generally formidable. He was no
longer Laulewasikaw, but Tenskwatawa, "The Open Door." "He affected
great sanctity; did not engage in the secular duties of war or hunting;
was seldom in public; devoted most of his time to fasting, the
interpretation of dreams, and offering sacrifices to spiritual powers;
pretended to see into futurity and to foretell events, and announced
himself to be the mouth-piece of God."
The first assemblage at Wapakoneta, was later followed by a series of
pilgrimages to Greenville, which shortly spread alarm among the white
settlers. Hundreds of savages flocked around the new seer from the
rivers and lakes of the northwest and even from beyond the Mississippi.
In May of 1807 great numbers passed and re-passed through Fort Wayne. In
a letter of date August 20th, 1807, from William Wells, the United
States Indian agent at the last named place, to Governor Harrison at
Vincennes, Wells relates that the lake Indians from the vicinity of
Mackinac are flocking to Greenville; that the Prophet is instilling the
doctrine that in a few years the Great Spirit will destroy every white
man in America, and that the inhabitants of Detroit are fortifying
themselves against attack. To all these savage gatherings the Prophet
preached the new propaganda. He denounced drunkenness, and said that he
had gone up into the clouds and had seen the abode of the Devil; that
there he saw all the drunkards and that flames of fire continually
issued from their mouths, and that all who used liquor in this world
would suffer eternal torment in the next; he advocated a return to
pristine habits and customs, counseling the tribes "to throw away their
flints and steels, and resort to their original mode of obtaining fire
by percussion. He denounced the woolen stuffs as not equal to skins for
clothing; he commended the use of the bow and arrow. As to
inter-marriage between the races, all this was prohibited. The two races
were distinct and must remain so. Neither could there be any separate or
individual ownership of any of the Indian lands; these were the common
heritage of all. The weak, aged and infirm were to be cherished and
protected; parental authority was to be obeyed. In conclusion, he never
failed to proclaim that the Great Spirit had gifted him with the divine
power to 'cure all diseases and to arrest the hand of death, in
sickness, or on the battlefield'."
The happening of these events soon attracted the attention of the
British agents at Malden, just below Detroit, and on the Canadian side.
McKee was there and Matthew Elliott. The old hatred of all things
American still burned in their bosoms. "England and France," says
Ridpath, "were now engaged in deadly war. The British authorities struck
blow after blow against the trade between France and foreign nations;
and Napoleon retaliated. The plan adopted by the two powers was, as
already narrated, to blockade each others' ports, either with paper
proclamations or with men-of-war. By such means the commerce of the
United States was greatly injured. Great Britain next set up her
peculiar claim of citizenship, that whosoever is born in England remains
through life the subject of England. English cruisers were authorized to
search American vessels for persons suspected of being British subjects,
and those who were taken were impressed as seamen in the English navy.
On the twenty-second of June, 1807, the frigate Chesapeake was hailed
near Fortress Monroe by a British man-of-war called the Leopard. British
officers came on board and demanded to search the vessel for deserters.
The demand was refused and the ship cleared for action. But before the
guns could be charged the Leopard poured in a destructive fire, and
compelled a surrender. Four men were taken from the captured ship, three
of whom proved to be American citizens. Great Britain disavowed this
outrage and promised reparation; but the promise was never fulfilled."
In the event of a renewal of hostilities between the United States and
Great Britain, it would evidently be the mission of McKee and Elliott to
brighten the bond of friendship between the Indian tribes and the king;
re-establish, so far as possible, the old savage confederacy, and use it
both as a barrier against any attempted invasion of Canada, and as a
weapon of offense against the western states and settlements. The
Shawnees were wholly in the interest of the British. The Potawatomi,
Ottawas and Chippewas who resided in the neighborhood of Detroit were,
as Harrison says, "the most perfidious of their race," and Wells
reported to Harrison, that in case of war, the Indian tribes would be
against the United States. In a letter of July eleventh, 1807, Harrison
wrote to the Department of War that a respectable trader from Detroit
had informed him "that McKee, the British Indian agent, was lately seen
to pass up the Miami of the Lake to Greenville where the Prophet
resided, and where there has been a considerable collection of Indians
for many weeks." The frontiers were generally alarmed, and in September
the Governor dispatched the interpreter, John Conner, with a talk to the
Shawnees requiring the immediate removal of the "impostor" from the
territory, and the dispersion of the warriors he had collected about
him. "The British," he writes, "could not have adopted a better plan to
effect their purpose of alienating from our government the affections of
the Indians than employing this vile instrument. It manifests at once
their inveterate rancour against us and their perfect acquaintance with
the Indian character."
But to return to the Prophet. His fame, bruited far and wide, soon
aroused the jealousy of many of the neighboring chiefs and medicine men.
They saw their power dwindling away and their authority diminishing.
They took steps to check the advancing tide of fanaticism, but were at
once adroitly met by the introduction of an inquisition into witchcraft,
which had been almost universally believed in by the tribes, but against
which the Prophet now hurled the most direful anathemas. He declared
that anyone who dealt in magic or "medicine juggleries" should never
taste of future happiness, and must be instantly put to death. His
deluded and awe-struck followers promptly began a systematic searching
out and persecution of "witches," and all under his personal direction.
The finger of the seer often pointed at a prominent warrior or
chieftain, or some member of their household. The Prophet's mere
denunciation was proof enough. The victim went to the torture of death
by fire, or some other fate equally revolting. Among the Delawares,
especially, the most shocking cruelty ensued, and finally these things
came to the ears of the Governor at Vincennes. He immediately sent a
"speech" by special messenger to the headmen and chiefs of the Delaware
tribe beseeching them to cast aside all fallacious doctrines, to
denounce the Prophet and to drive him out of their midst. In the course
of this "speech" he said: "Demand of him some proof at least, of his
being the messenger of the Deity. If God has really employed him, He has
doubtless authorized him to perform miracles that he may be known and
received as a prophet. If he is really a prophet, ask of him to cause
the sun to stand still, the moon to alter its course, the rivers to
cease to flow, or the dead to rise from their graves."
The language of the Governor proved to be unfortunate. On June sixteen,
1806, there was a total eclipse of the sun in northern latitudes for a
period of about five minutes, at about a half an hour before midday, and
this event had long been heralded by the astronomers of that time, and
had come to the ears of the Prophet through intercourse with some white
friends. The crafty savage was not slow to act. He told his followers
that on a certain fixed day, and at a time when the sun was at the
height of its power, he would place the same under his feet, and cause
darkness to come over the face of the earth. On the day announced, the
Prophet stood among his fearful band, awaiting the hour. The day was
wholly clear and without clouds, but at the appointed time the terrified
savages saw a disc of blackness gradually pass over the face of the sun;
the birds became agitated and flew to cover; the skulking dogs drew near
their masters; almost absolute darkness fell on all about; the stars of
heaven appeared in the zenith, and in the midst of it all, the Prophet
exclaimed: "Did I not testify truly? Behold! Darkness has shrouded the
sun!" The account of that day, faithfully set forth by J. Fennimore
Cooper, then a youth, is filled with strange relations of the unnatural
appearance of all earthly things; of the sudden awe and fear that came
into the minds of all; how women stood near their husbands in silence
and children clung to their mothers in terror, and if these were the
emotions experienced in a civilized community, made fully aware of the
coming event, what must have been the impression produced on the
superstitious mind of the savage, wholly unenlightened in the ways of
science? From that day, the power of the savage Prophet was secure until
the spell of his magic was forever broken by Harrison's soldiers at
Tippecanoe.
It is not certain at what precise period in his career, whether in 1806
or 1807, or later, the Prophet was tempted by British gold and British
overtures. President Jefferson once wrote to John Adams as follows: "I
thought there was little danger in his making proselytes from the habits
and comforts they had learned from the whites, to the hardships and
privations of savagism, and no great harm if he did. But his followers
increased until the British thought him worth corrupting, and found him
corruptible." Neither is it certain at what precise period Tecumseh put
his brother-priest behind him and assumed the lead. That he had
cunningly pretended to have great respect and reverence while the
Prophet was practicing on the superstition of the tribes; that he took
no steps to stop the inquisitions which were destroying the influence of
the chiefs and medicine men; that he stood ready at the opportune moment
to push the brother-priest into the back-ground and form a confederacy
with himself as the recognized head, will not now admit of controversy.
In 1806 Tecumseh was about thirty-eight years of age, a finished
athlete, a renowned hunter, and of great reputation as a bold and
fearless orator. Probably no red man ever born had a better knowledge of
the various treaties that had been consummated between the races. "For
all those qualities which elevate man far above his race; for talent,
tact, skill, bravery as a warrior; for high-minded, honorable and
chivalrous bearing as a man; in fine, for all those elements of
greatness which place him a long way above his fellows in savage life,
the name and fame of Tecumseh will go down to posterity in the west, as
one of the most celebrated of the aborigines of this continent." This is
the estimate of Judge Law, of Vincennes.
In his youth he had been under the tutelage of his elder brother,
Cheeseekau, who taught him "a love for the truth, a contempt of
everything mean and sordid, and the practice of those cardinal Indian
virtues, courage in battle and fortitude in suffering." In one of the
early Shawnee raids along the Ohio he had witnessed the burning of a
white man at the stake; the scene was so horrifying to him that he made
his associates promise never to torture another person. The spoils of
the hunt he divided with the aged and unfortunate. At the time of the
Prophet's rise he had already matched his prowess in battle against such
men as Simon Kenton and his associates and had proven both his skill as
a tactician and his courage as a fighter.
An illustration of Tecumseh's chivalry toward his foes, is pleasingly
set forth in Smith's _Historical Sketches of Old Vincennes_; "Early in
the year 1811, Governor Harrison, with a view to ascertaining the cause
of the dissatisfaction of the Prophet, and, if possible, pacify him,
deputed one of his most sagacious and trusty advisers with a competent
interpreter to hold a council with him and his chiefs, including his
brother warrior chief, Tecumseh. It is learned from history that these
gentlemen arrived at the village one evening and were received in an
apparently friendly manner by the Prophet and assigned a tent for the
night with an appointment for a council the next morning. It is said the
Prophet's wife was considered a queen among the Indian women, as well as
by her husband. Before retiring for the night the interpreter observed
an unusual stir among the squaws, and motions made toward their tent,
and caught menacing glances and gestures toward them, and so told the
ambassador, but he made light of the matter and the interpreter's
suspicions that treachery was intended, and when night came on he was
soon asleep in peace and quiet. But not so with the vigilant
interpreter, who kept awake and had his guns near at hand. About
midnight a tap was heard at the door and his name, in the Shawnee
language, was called. He found Tecumseh at the door. He had called to
warn him of impending assassination by the queen and squaws, who had
held a council and determined on their death in spite of the protests of
himself and others who told them it would be base treachery to kill
messengers of peace who were their visitors. He told the visitors to
rise and go with him. They went silently through the village and down
into a wooded ravine near the river, where a noise was made as if to
call wild turkeys, sounds well recognized by all hunters in early days;
an answer was returned, and soon two men appeared with the ambassador's
horses, which they speedily mounted and rode swiftly away, accompanied
by two guides furnished by Tecumseh, and were soon well on their return
trip to Vincennes."
No true portrait of this celebrated Indian is in existence. The
following graphic description of him, however, is given by Stanley
Hatch, who had a personal acquaintance with him in times of peace: "The
general appearance of this remarkable man was uncommonly fine. His
height was about five feet nine inches, judging him by my own height
when standing close to him, and corroborated by the late Col. John
Johnston, for many years Indian agent at Piqua. His face oval rather
than angular; his nose handsome and straight; his mouth beautifully
formed, like that of Napoleon I, as represented in his portraits; his
eyes clear, transparent hazel, with a mild, pleasant expression when in
repose, or in conversation; but when excited in his orations or by the
enthusiasm of a conflict, or when in anger, they appeared like balls of
fire; his teeth beautifully white, and his complexion more of a light
brown or tan than red; his whole tribe as well as their kindred the
Ottawas, had light complexions; his arms and hands were finely formed;
his limbs straight; he always stood very erect and walked with a brisk,
elastic, vigorous step; invariably dressed in Indian tanned buckskin; a
perfectly well fitting hunting frock descending to the knee, and over
his under clothes of the same material; the usual cape and finish of
yellow fringe about the neck; cape, edges of the front opening and
bottom of the frock; a belt of the same material in which were his side
arms (an elegant silver-mounted tomahawk and a knife in a strong leather
case); short pantaloons connected with neatly fitting leggings and
moccasins, with a mantle of the same material thrown over his left
shoulder, used as a blanket in camp and as a protection in storms. Such
was his dress when I last saw him, on the seventeenth of August, 1812,
on the streets of Detroit; mutually exchanging tokens of recognition
with former acquaintances in years of peace, and passing on, he, to see
that his Indians had all crossed to Malden, as commanded, and to counsel
with his white allies in regard to the next movement of the now really
commenced War of 1812. He was then in the prime of life, and presented
in his appearance and noble bearing one of the finest looking men I have
ever seen."
The striking circumstances of his birth, the ascendency of his brother,
the Prophet, his burning hatred of the white race; his skill as a hunter
and valor as a warrior; above all his wonderful eloquence and thorough
knowledge of all the Indian treaties of the past, gave Tecumseh an
influence and authority among the tribes far beyond that of any of the
braves or sachems of that day. If at the first his imagination had not
dared to scale the heights of power, he later boldly threw aside all
disguise, and by his powerful advocacy of a communistic ownership of all
the Indian lands by the tribes in common, he aimed both a blow at the
ancient authority claimed by the Indian chieftains, and at the validity
of every treaty ever negotiated between the two races of men. The sum
and substance of Tecumseh's doctrine is thus succinctly stated by Judge
Law: "That the Great Spirit had given the Indians all their lands in
common to be held by them as such and not by the various tribes who had
settled on portions of it--claiming it as their own. That they were
squatters having no 'pre-emption right,' but holding even that on which
they lived as mere 'tenants in common' with all the other tribes. That
this mere possession gave them no title to convey the land without the
consent of all. That no single tribe had the right to sell, that the
power to sell was not vested in their chiefs, but must be the act of the
warriors in council assembled of all the tribes, as the land belonged to
all--no portion of it to any single tribe."
If these tenets were to hold, it was clear that any authority claimed by
the chiefs to represent their respective tribes in the sale or barter of
any of the Indian domain was without foundation; that any treaty not
negotiated and ratified by a common council of all the warriors of all
the tribes, was null and void; that Wayne's Treaty of 1795 was nullum
pactum; that the claim of the white settlers to any of the lands north
of the Ohio was without force, and that they were trespassers and mere
licensees from the beginning. The doctrine thus enunciated was not
entirely new. Joseph Brant had claimed that the land was the common
property of the tribes, but he had never declared that the sanction of
all the warriors was necessary to a conveyance. But the plausible
eloquence of Tecumseh, coming at a time when the star of the red man was
setting; when every passing day witnessed the encroachment of the white
settlers, gave a new ray of hope to the fainting tribes. The warriors,
carried away by the dreams and incantations of the Prophet, and
sustained by the burning words of a new leader, who promised them a
restoration of their former glory, cast aside with contempt all the
articles and solemn agreements of the past, and were ready to take up
the tomahawk in patriotic defense of their lands and homes. Thus did
Tecumseh look forward to the establishment of "a great and permanent
confederation--an empire of red men, of which he should be the leader
and emperor."