THE SECOND AND LAST COUNCIL
--_The last meeting between the two leaders before Harrison marched into
the Indian country._
What strange fatality directed the minds of the Shawnee brothers to
repel all friendly advances on the part of the American government, and
to listen to the poisonous council of Matthew Elliott and the other
British agents who had so often deceived their race, may not easily be
divined. Brant had been bribed, Little Turtle and the Blue Jacket basely
deserted in the hour of defeat, and two English treaties negotiated
without a line in either to the advantage of the red man, but
notwithstanding all these facts, both Tecumseh and the Prophet were now
in full and constant communication with Malden, Canada.
Rapid strides were made by the brothers in the closing months of 1810.
Not only were the village chiefs and sachems shorn of all their old-time
authority, and the power of determination lodged in the hands of the
warriors, but the belt of union circulated by the Prophet among the
tribes "to confine the great water and prevent it from overflowing
them," brought many accessions both to the confederacy and to the
Shawnee influence. It was reported that when this belt was exhibited to
Elliott and he saw that so many tribes had united against the United
States that he danced with joy. About the first of November, Tecumseh
himself arrived at Malden on a visit to the British agency. He remained
there until some time after the twenty-fourth of December. The nature of
his conferences with Elliott may be inferentially arrived at from the
following. An Indian council had, during the preceding autumn, been
convened at Brownstown, near Detroit. A resolution had there been
entered into to prevent the sale of any more lands to the United States
and this step had been taken at the suggestion of Elliott. According to
the report of the Wea chiefs, the British agent had informed the tribes
that England and France had now made peace, and would soon unite their
arms "to dispossess the Americans of the lands they had taken from the
Indians." The Shawnee land doctrine had become popular. "The Indians,"
writes Harrison, "appear to be more uneasy and dissatisfied than I ever
before saw them, and I believe that the Prophet's principle, that their
land should be considered common property, is either openly avowed or
secretly favored by all the tribes west of the Wabash." The tribes of
the Lakes looked upon the Wabash as the land of promise. The Winnebagoes
were already present in considerable numbers at the Prophet's Town, and
the Wyandots had formed a camp in close proximity to that place. The Six
Nations were reported to be in motion and demanding the privilege of
settling in the Wabash valley. Could all these tribes be assembled in
the face of the advancing American settlements, they would serve the
double purpose of checking this advance and furnishing a protective
barrier to Canada in case of a war between Great Britain and the United
States. Tecumseh and Elliott were joined in the fellowship of a mutual
interest.
The Miami chiefs looked upon this presumptuous conduct of the Shawnee
leaders with high disapproval. Their tribes were the rightful
proprietors of the soil, and the establishment of the Prophet had been
effected without their consent. But much of their ancient authority had
passed away. Many of their young warriors were carried away by the mad
fanaticism of the Prophet and vainly imagined that they could drive the
white man back across the Ohio. Unless the hands of the Miami leaders
were upheld, they could not long resist the pressure of the surrounding
tribes and must give their sanction to the Prophet's scheme.
Harrison was fully convinced that the old village chiefs would willingly
place themselves under the protection of the government, and surrender
their claims for a suitable annuity, rather than submit to any
domination on the part of their neighbors. The Governor was plainly in
favor of forming an alliance with the Miamis, of dispersing the
followers of the Prophet, and paving the way for further extinguishment
of the Indian title. He urged that the narrow strip on the west side of
the Greenville cession, in the eastern part of the Indiana territory,
would soon be filled with new settlers; that the backwoodsmen were not
men "of a disposition to content themselves with land of an inferior
quality when they see in their immediate neighborhood the finest country
as to soil in the world occupied by a few wretched savages;" that the
Territory was fast advancing to statehood, and that the members of the
Territorial legislature were heartily in favor of smoothing the way to
further purchases.
The Governor also earnestly pressed the government to establish a strong
post on the Wabash in the upper portion of the New Purchase. The
citizens of Vincennes had been thoroughly alarmed by the presence of so
large a gathering of red men at the council in August. Murders were
frequent, and horse-stealing was an everyday occurrence. To adopt a
policy of vacillation with a savage was to confess weakness. The Prophet
was openly declaring to Brouillette, the Governor's agent, that no
survey of the new lands would be permitted. Immigration was ebbing, and
the selling and settling of the newly acquired territory was wholly out
of the question so long as the purchasers could not be assured of
protection. The display of a strong force of regulars and mounted
militia, the establishment of a strong position on the borders of the
Indian country, would not only dishearten the followers of the Prophet
and discourage further accessions to his banner, but strengthen the
hands of those Miami chieftains who still preserved their allegiance to
the United States. Any expeditionary force to be employed was to be
headed by the Governor himself, who had taken a very active part in the
training of the frontier militiamen, and who now offered his services
voluntarily and without compensation.
The Federal authorities moved slowly. It was evident that the old
indifference as to the welfare of the western world still prevailed.
Some strange hallucination led the Washington authorities to believe
that friendly relations might be sustained with a band of savages who
were carried away by a religious frenzy, and who were daily giving ear
to British whisperings. The consequences were that a party of mounted
dragoons organized by Judge Benjamin Parke to protect Vincennes and who
made a demand for pistols and swords, did not receive their equipment
until late in the following spring, and then the swords were found to be
of iron; that no orders were issued to form a friendly alliance with the
Miami chiefs, and hold them steadfast; that the small detachment of one
hundred and twenty or one hundred and thirty regulars under Captain
Cross did not arrive until the third of October, and that no
instructions were received from the government, until all forage for the
horses had disappeared from the woods, and it was too late in the season
to undertake an expedition.
With the opening of the spring of 1811, the insolence and effrontery of
the Shawnee leaders measurably increased. About the first of April
twelve horses were stolen from the settlement of Busseron, about twenty
miles above Vincennes. The pillaging bands of the Potawatomi, directly
under the influence of the Prophet, were committing robberies and
murders on the Illinois and Missouri frontiers. In the issue of August
18th, 1810, of the _Western Sun_, of Vincennes, appeared this paragraph:
"Extract of a letter from a gentleman at St. Louis, to his friend in
this place, dated August 3rd, 1810. 'On my return from the garrison up
the Missouri, I stayed at Captain Cole's, who just returned from the
pursuit of some Indians that had stolen horses from the
settlement--they came in view of the Indians on the prairie, and pursued
on until night, and encamped, made fires, etc., in the woodland, and not
apprehending any danger from the Indians, lay down to sleep--some time
after midnight, they were fired upon by the Indians, and four men
killed."
What had happened was this: There is a grove about three or four miles
southwest of Morocco, in Newton County, Indiana, named Turkey Foot
grove, and another of the same name about forty miles south of it, and
two or three miles southeast of the town of Earl Park. In this region
dwelt Turkey Foot, at the head of a lawless band of the prairie
Potawatomi. They had kept the frontiers of Illinois in terror for months
and had caused considerable anxiety both to Governor Harrison and to
Governor Ninian Edwards of the Illinois Territory. In a spirit of
devilish mischief and led on by the hope of plunder, the chief and his
followers had ridden hundreds of miles across the grand prairies of
Indiana and Illinois, had forded the Mississippi, and pierced to the
outposts of Loutre island in the Missouri river, below the present town
of Hermann, and from fifty to seventy miles west of St. Louis, had
stolen a bunch of horses there, and made good their escape, after
committing one of the foulest murders recorded in the early history of
that territory.
As soon as the theft of the horses was discovered, great excitement
prevailed, as horses were very valuable to the early pioneer. A rescue
party was organized, composed of Samuel Cole, and William T. Cole,
Temple, Patton, Murdock and Gooch, and after pursuing the Indians all
day, they came in sight of them on a large prairie, but the horses of
Cole's party were so tired that Cole had to give up the chase, and an
encampment was made in a small woodland. After midnight, and when all
were in slumber, the stealthy savages returned, surrounded the camp, and
on the first attack killed Temple, Patton and Gooch. Murdock sought
shelter under the bank of a creek near by, but William T. Cole was
attacked by two savages, one in front and one in the rear. In the
rencounter Cole was stabbed in the shoulder, but wrenched a knife from
one of his assailants and killed him. The other Indian escaped in the
darkness.
This murder and larceny combined, was brought to the attention of
Governor Harrison by the then acting governor of the Louisiana
Territory. Later, documentary proof was furnished by Governor Howard.
Harrison sent William Wells and John Conner to Tippecanoe to demand
restitution of the stolen property. Four horses were delivered up, and a
promise made by the Shawnee leaders to procure the remainder, but this
was never done. Wells found out that the Potawatomi banditti who had
committed these murders were directly under the influence of Tecumseh
and the Prophet, but he was given to understand that the murderers had
fled to the Illinois river, and that no attempt would be made to
apprehend them. Tecumseh boldly attempted to excuse all these outrages
in a subsequent conference with the Governor.
Wells had much conversation at this time with Tecumseh, who "openly and
positively avowed his determination to resist the encroachments of the
white people." Wells told the Shawnee chief that he would never be able
to accomplish his designs, but Tecumseh replied that Wells would live to
see the contrary. About this time a friendly Kickapoo chief arrived at
Vincennes and told the Governor that he was determined to put him on his
guard against the Prophet and his brother. "He said that their pacific
professions were not to be relied upon; that he had heard them speaking
to the Indians for several years and in that time he had never heard
anything that they said but war and hatred against the United States.
That the delivering up of the horses which were occasionally stolen was
merely intended to lull our vigilance and to prevent us from discovering
their designs until they were ripe for execution. That they frequently
told their young men that they would defeat their plans by their
precipitancy. That in their harangues to the Indians they frequently
requested those who would not join their confederacy, to keep their
secret. That they always promised them a rich harvest of plunder and
scalps, declaring that the first stroke would put them in possession of
an ample supply of arms, ammunition and provisions."
On the second of May, General William Clark, of St. Louis, wrote to the
Governor informing him that the Prophet had sent the belt to the
Mississippi tribes, inviting them to join in a war against the United
States, and declaring that the war would be begun by an attack on
Vincennes. About the same time word was brought that the Sacs had
acceded to the hostile confederacy, and that the Potawatomi in the
region of Chicago were on the warpath. A party of surveyors employed by
the surveyor-general to divide the New Purchase into townships, were
seized and bound by a party of Weas, their arms taken from them, and the
engineers driven in terror to Cincinnati. In the fore part of June, a
pirogue sent up the Wabash with the annual supply of salt for the Indian
tribes was seized by the Prophet and every barrel taken. The excuse
given was, that the Prophet had two thousand warriors to feed, and that
he had taken none on the previous year. Pierre La Plante, Harrison's
agent at the Prophet's Town, reported that only about one hundred
warriors were present at the time, but that Tecumseh was shortly
expected to arrive with a considerable reinforcement from the lakes.
About the twentieth of June, five Shawnees and ten Winnebagoes of the
Prophet's party invaded Vincennes bringing a number of rifles and
tomahawks to be repaired. They were boldly accused by some Potawatomi of
Topenebee's faction to be meditating war against Harrison and to be
making observations on the situation of affairs within the town.
So threatening and warlike were the actions of the Shawnee leaders that
the Governor now addressed a communication to the Secretary of War,
demanding that the Fourth United States Regiment at Pittsburgh, under
the command of Colonel John Parke Boyd, be sent forward immediately for
the defense of the frontiers. The government was in part aroused from
its state of lethargy. Recent advices from Governor Edwards had
announced a series of murders and depredations on the Illinois frontier,
and the citizens of Vincennes were in constant dread and apprehension.
The Governor said that he could not much longer restrain his people, and
that there was danger of them falling on the Indians and slaying friend
and foe alike, from their inability to discriminate the various tribes.
By a letter of the seventeenth of July, the Governor received word that
the aforementioned regiment, with a company of riflemen, had been
ordered to descend the Ohio, and that Colonel Boyd was to act under the
advice and command of the Governor himself. If necessary, this force was
to be employed in an attack upon the Prophet, but the Governor was given
positive orders not to march them up the river or to begin hostilities,
until every other expedient had failed. Hedged about by timid
restrictions and foolish admonitions, the course of the Governor was
rendered extremely difficult. One thing, however, he had firmly resolved
to do. The Prophet's forces must soon be scattered.
In the meantime, Harrison had dispatched Captain Walter Wilson, of the
Territorial militia, with a speech to the Prophet's Town. The Captain
was well received by Tecumseh. Harrison's talk was plain and to the
point. He informed the Shawnee brothers that he was well aware of their
design to unite the tribes, murder the Governor, and commence a war upon
his people. That their seizure of the salt sent up the Wabash was ample
proof of their hostile intention. That they had no prospect of success,
for his hunting shirt men were as numerous as the mosquitoes on the
shores of the Wabash. That if they were discontented with the sale of
the lands at Fort Wayne, that he (the Governor) would furnish them the
means to visit the President of the United States, and they might then
state their claims in full and receive justice, but that they must not
come to Vincennes with a large retinue, as this would not be permitted.
If they came they must only be attended by a few of their young men.
This last proposition, Tecumseh promptly acquiesced in and sent word to
the Governor that he expected to be in Vincennes in about eighteen days,
and that all matters would then be settled in "peace and happiness."
Harrison was vigilant. He determined to watch the river with a party of
scouts, and in the meantime to muster the militia and make a show of
military force. He was convinced that if his wily antagonist found him
off his guard that he would not hesitate to "pick a quarrel," and launch
a general attack. The Governor's letter to the war department of July
10th, 1811, is interesting. "With them (i. e., the Indians) the surprise
of an enemy bestows more eclat upon a warrior than the most brilliant
success obtained by other means. Tecumseh has taken for his model the
celebrated Pontiac and I am persuaded that he will bear a favorable
comparison in every respect with that far famed warrior. If it is his
object to begin with the surprise of this place, it is impossible that a
more favorable situation could have been chosen than the one he
occupies. It is just so far off as to be removed from our immediate
observation, and yet so near as to enable him to strike us when the
water is high in twenty-four hours, and even when it is low their light
canoes will come fully as fast as the journey could be performed on
horseback. The situation is in other respects admirable for the purposes
for which he has chosen it. It is nearly central with regard to the
tribes which he wishes to unite. The water communication with Lake Erie
by means of the Wabash and Miami, with Lake Michigan and the Illinois
by the Tippecanoe, is a great convenience. It is immediately in the
center of the back line of that fine country which he wishes to prevent
us from settling, and above all, he has immediately in his rear a
country that has been but little explored, consisting principally of
barren thickets, interspersed with swamps and lakes, into which our
cavalry could not penetrate, and our infantry only by slow and laborious
marches."
Tecumseh did not keep his word. At the very time he was promising Wilson
to bring only a few men he was sending word in every direction to
collect his people. On the twenty-fourth of July he was within a few
miles' march of Vincennes with one hundred twenty or thirty warriors,
and the Weas under Lapoussier were coming on in the rear. The people
were greatly alarmed and irritated and there was danger of their firing
on the savage bands. Brouillette was kept in the saddle riding from camp
to camp. On the twenty-fifth, Harrison sent Captain Wilson twenty miles
up the river to demand of Tecumseh his reason for approaching the town
with so large a force, despite the Governor's injunction and his own
previous agreement. The savage after some equivocation, said that he was
only attended by twenty-four men and that the remainder had come "on
their own accord." Parties of savages were then lurking about the
settlements on every hand, and "upwards of one hundred were within two
miles of the town northwest of the Wabash." Some sinister design was
moving the chieftain's mind.
On the twenty-seventh the main body of savages arrived by canoe, and on
the next day came those who marched by land. Three hundred red men were
present, including twenty or thirty women and children. What was
Tecumseh's object? Harrison's spies reported to him that it was the
intention of the Shawnee to peremptorily demand a retrocession of the
late purchase, and if it was not obtained, to seize some of the chiefs
who were active in making the treaty, and in the presence of the
Governor put them to death. If the Governor interfered he was to share
the same fate. However this may be, the great chief abandoned any
hostile design he may have entertained on a view of Harrison's forces.
On the day of his arrival a review of the neighboring militia was held,
at which were present seven or eight hundred men under arms. "The two
infantry companies on duty were increased to three, and these being
relieved on different days by some management in marching and changing
quarters, it appeared to the Indians that four or five companies were on
constant duty. The elegant troop of dragoons commanded by Captain Parke
(who is also one of our supreme judges) were exhibited to the greatest
advantage, and nightly patrols both of horse and foot announced a
vigilance which defied surprise. The Indians were in astonishment and
terror and I believe most of them went off impressed with the belief
that Vincennes was not as easily to be taken as their chief would have
convinced them." The promptitude and foresight of the Governor probably
prevented a massacre.
Harrison sought an immediate interview, but was not able to bring
Tecumseh into council, until Tuesday the thirtieth of July. An arbor had
been erected in front of the executive mansion. An hour before the time
of the appointed meeting Tecumseh sent a messenger to learn whether the
Governor would be attended by an armed force. In that event he announced
that he would come armed also. The Governor gave him his choice, but
informed the chief that in case his warriors left their guns at their
camp, that he (Harrison) would only be attended by twenty-five or thirty
dismounted dragoons. Tecumseh preferred the latter arrangement, "and
came attended by about one hundred and seventy or one hundred and eighty
men without guns, but all of them having knives and tomahawks or war
clubs, and some with bows and arrows." The Governor opened the council
by mentioning the great alarm which had been occasioned by the late
murders in Illinois and the assembling of so large a body of savages,
and declared that he was ready to listen to anything that the chiefs
might have to say, but that he would enter into no negotiation
concerning the late purchase. That affair was in the hands of the
President who had not sent any answer to the claim that Tecumseh had
last year set up on behalf of all the tribes on the continent. He also
declared that Tecumseh might, if he so desired, make a visit to the
President and hear his determination from his own mouth. The Governor
concluded by demanding an explanation of the seizure of the salt.
Tecumseh in his short reply adverted to the matter of the salt first. He
said that he had not been at home on either occasion when the salt boats
had arrived, but that it was impossible to please the Governor, for last
year he was angry because the salt was refused, and now he was angry
because it was taken. After some further unimportant observations, a
violent storm came on and the council was adjourned.
At two o'clock the next day the council again convened, when Lapoussier,
the Wea chieftain, who was now the firm friend of Tecumseh, arose and
made a long speech on the treaties that had been entered into between
the Governor and the Indian tribes. He closed by stating that the Miamis
had been forced by the Potawatomi to make the late treaty of Fort Wayne,
and that it would be proper to make an inquiry as to the person who had
held the tomahawk over their heads, and punish him. This was, of course,
an allusion to Winamac. Harrison immediately called on the Miami chiefs
present for a contradiction of this statement, and then turning to
Tecumseh, told him that it lay within his power to manifest the truth of
his professions of friendship towards the United States and his desire
to preserve peace, by delivering up the two Potawatomi who had murdered
the four white men on the Missouri last fall, and who were then in his
camp.
The reply of Tecumseh is given in Harrison's own language. "He said that
after much trouble and difficulty he had at length brought all the
northern tribes to unite and place themselves under his direction. That
the white people were unnecessarily alarmed at his measures--that they
really meant nothing but peace--the United States had set him the
example of forming a strict union amongst all the fires that compose
their confederacy. That the Indians did not complain of it--nor should
his white brothers complain of him for doing the same thing with regard
to the Indian tribes. As soon as the council was over he was to set out
on a visit to the southern tribes to get them to unite with those of the
north. To my demand of the murderers, he observed that they were not in
his town, as I believed them--that it was not right to punish those
people--that they ought to be forgiven, as well as those who lately
murdered our people in the Illinois. That he had set us an example of
forgiveness of injuries which we ought to follow. The Ottawas had
murdered one of his women, and the Osages one of his relations, and yet
he had forborne to revenge them--that he had even taken the tomahawks
out of the hands of those who were ready to march against the Osages. To
my inquiry whether he was determined to prevent the settlement of the
New Purchase, he replied that he hoped no attempt would be made to
settle until his return next spring. That a great number of Indians were
coming to settle at his town this fall, and who must occupy that tract
as a hunting ground, and if they did no further injury, they might kill
the cattle and hogs of the white people, which would produce
disturbance. That he wished every thing to remain in its present
situation until his return--our settlements not to progress further--and
no revenge sought for any injury that had been or should be received by
the white people until his return--that he would then go and see the
President and settle everything with him. That the affairs of all the
tribes in this quarter were in his hands and that nothing could be done
without him--that he would dispatch messengers in every direction to
prevent them from doing any more mischief--that he had made full
atonement for the murders which had been committed by the wampum which
he delivered."
The reply of the Governor was short and pithy. It was now evening and
the moon was shining. He told the assembled tribesmen that the moon
which they beheld would sooner fall to the earth "than the President
would suffer his people to be murdered with impunity, and that he would
put his warriors in petticoats sooner than he would give up a country
which he had fairly acquired from the rightful owners." The meeting was
then broken up.
We have said that the promptitude and foresight of the Governor probably
averted a massacre. It was the opinion of all the neutral Indians on the
ground that Tecumseh meditated a stroke. His manner throughout the
council was embarrassed, and it was evident to all that the speech he
actually delivered was not the one he had prepared for the occasion. If
he had found the Governor unprepared and the town defenseless, his
fierce hatred of the paleface and his boundless ambition as a warrior,
would probably have prompted him to resort to violence, for it is a well
known fact, observed by all Indian writers, that a savage will always
act upon the advantage of the moment, regardless of future consequences.
Besides, it is probable that Tecumseh now felt himself powerful enough
to deal a telling blow. Many accessions had been made to his confederacy
and the daring depredations in the Illinois country had gone unpunished.
Like all savages, he had nothing but contempt for a government that did
not promptly revenge its wrongs. But when, on approaching the town, he
observed the great military array, and saw bodies of armed men and
mounted riflemen moving to and fro, his resolution was shaken and he
experienced a more wholesome respect for his adversary's strength.
"Heedless of futurity," says Harrison, "it is only by placing the danger
before his eyes, that a savage is to be controlled. Even the gallant
Tecumseh is not insensible to an argument of this kind. No courtier
could be more complaisant, than he was upon his last visit. To have
heard him, one would have supposed that he came here for the purpose of
complimenting me. This wonderful metamorphosis in manner was entirely
produced by the gleaming and clanging of arms; by the frowns of a
considerable body of hunting shirt men, who accidentally lined a road by
which he approached to the council house."
The body of savages again melted away, and the Miami chieftains who had
accompanied the expedition returned to their homes. On the fifth of
August, Tecumseh, with a retinue of twenty chiefs, including the famous
Potawatomi, Shaubena, passed down the Wabash to visit the nations of the
south and more firmly cement the bonds of his confederacy. The day
before he departed he called on the Governor and labored hard to
convince him that he had no object in view other than to unite the
tribes in a league of peace. After visiting the Creeks and Choctaws, he
was to pass through the land of the Osages and return by the Missouri
river. Before his return, the last hope of the red man was to be forever
crushed, and the old dream of Pontiac forever dispelled.
The Governor has paid a just and worthy tribute to his savage foe. In a
letter of August seventh, 1811, he writes to the department of war as
follows: "The implicit confidence and respect which the followers of
Tecumseh pay to him is really astonishing, and more than any other
circumstance bespeaks him one of those uncommon geniuses, which spring
up occasionally to produce revolutions and overturn the established
order of things. If it were not for the vicinity of the United States,
he would perhaps be the founder of an empire that would rival in glory
that of Mexico or Peru. No difficulties deter him. His activity and
industry supply the want of letters. For four years he has been in
constant motion. You see him today on the Wabash, and in a short time
you 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 impression
favorable to his purposes."
While these stirring events were happening at the frontier capital, and
on the thirty-first of July, a considerable body of the citizens of
Vincennes, both English and French, met at the seminary building, and
after selecting Ephraim Jordan as president and one James Smith as
secretary, certain resolutions were "fallen into," which vividly portray
the emotions of the frontiersmen of that day and their dire apprehension
of impending danger. The resolutions stated in substance that the safety
of the persons and property of the inhabitants could never be
effectively secured, but by the breaking up of the combination formed on
the Wabash by the Shawnee Prophet; that the inhabitants regarded this
combination as a British scheme; that but for the prompt measures of
Governor Harrison, it was highly probable that the town would have been
destroyed and the inhabitants massacred. The Rev. Samuel T. Scott, the
Rev. Alexander Devin, Colonel Luke Decker, Francis Vigo and others, were
appointed as a committee to draft an address to the President of the
United States, setting forth their situation and praying for relief. On
the same day this address was duly formulated and signed by the
committee above mentioned, and forwarded to the chief executive of the
nation. In it, the citizens breathed forth their terrors and fear of the
Wabash banditti, and their alarm at the constant depredations committed
on the frontier. One passage is significant. "The people have become
irritated and alarmed, and if the government will not direct their
energies, we fear that the innocent will feel the effects of their
resentment, and a general war be the consequence." A temper of this kind
could not long be disregarded. Temporizing must cease.