Frontier Tension Mounts

Before the end of 1811, the Prophet was back at Tippecanoe, the village was rebuilt, and the white settlers were once again in danger.  Tecumseh returned in early 1812 after a successful visit to the Creek, Choctaw, and Cherokee.  He talked of his long-delayed visit to Washington to discuss peace.  Tecumseh claimed that had he been in Prophetstown there would have been no Battle of Tippecanoe.

By spring of 1812, ominous events began to happen.  Two settlers were murdered within three miles of Fort Dearborn and an entire family was massacred five miles outside of Vincennes.  The frontier was in a panic, as a general uprising was thought imminent.  Farmers abandoned their farms, taking refuge in temporary forts hastily built.  Many fled to Kentucky.

Tecumseh blamed the troubles on the Potawatomi who had not joined his confederation, and continued to talk of his friendship with his "white brothers."  Still, he made no effort to visit Washington to broker peace as promised, nor did he do much to restrain his allies.  Rumor had it that he was a British sympathizer.  The commander of Fort Wayne reported to Governor Harrison in Vincennes that "if the country should have a war with Britain, it must be prepared for an Indian war as well."  The year was 1812.

Governor Harrison immediately asked to raise an army which would "scour" the Wabash territory.  The War Department hesitated for fear of driving the Indians straight to the British side.  In no part of the country was war more popular and no where did the mass of able-bodied settlers show more desire to join the fight that in the Old Northwest.

There were only five garrisoned posts between the Ohio River and the Canadian border - Fort Harrison with 50 men, Fort Wayne with 85, Fort Dearborn with 53, Fort Mackinac with 88, and Detroit with 120.  A total force of less than 400 men to defend Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and the Ohio River! 

Next time...As war develops, so do the obstacles
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Today in Pioneer History: "On May 16, 1849, New York City finally establishes a hospital for cholera before the epidemic ends, killing 5,000 people.  The poor conditions of the rapidly growing city, along with the constant influx of immigrants from around the world would eventually lead to the first street-cleaning plan,  but not before the disease visited homes of all levels of society. 

Bargaining with Tecumseh

The white frontiersmen were certainly suspicious of what seemed to be the observer - Tecumseh's peaceful settlement in central Indiana.  Daily warlike exercises were reported and rumors spread that the tribes far and wide were near rebellion.  Even Governor Harrison who didn't frighten easily, was apprehensive and called Tecumseh to conference in Vincennes.

The conference went on for two weeks where both sides showed goodwill along with firmness of mind.  Harrison himself wanted peace, orderliness, and industry.  Tecumseh had a desire to be a friend to the United States and requested that the sale of whiskey to the natives be stopped.  All seemed to be on good terms. It wasn't until Harrison negotiated the land cession of 1809 which cost the natives the last valuable hunting grounds in Indiana territory, that the powerful Wyandot joined Tecumseh's union and war was inevitable. 

Tribe after tribe in Indiana and Illinois elected Tecumseh their chief over the next two years.  Harrison called another conference in Vincennes in 1810, requesting not more than 30 natives attend - over 400 came, fully armed.  Tecumseh basically told the settlers to return to their own country. (Sound familiar?) 

"The Great Spirit had looked over a land with no whites.  It was a happy race, and belonged to them.  Only the white man had made it miserable, driving the natives from hunting grounds, over mountains, away from water.  The natives would go no further.  The only way to stop this evil was to commit to an equal right in the land.  The land should belong to all as it was at first.  No divisions " Tecumseh said. 

Harrison replied that the natives were not one tribe, but spoke six languages.  He argued that lands had been purchased, not taken,  and deferred to the President to decide.  The clash and crisis was temporarily averted.  In 1811, Tecumseh promised to visit President Madison and settle with him the issue, but first he needed to travel to southern tribes to unite them in the confederacy.

As soon as Tecumseh started south to the Creek tribes, Harrison began his preparations to end "this menace."  Troops were sent to  the new acquisitions and 24 companies of regulars were brought together at present day Terre Haute.  Purpose?  To destroy the Tippecanoe settlement.

Next time...Harrison wars with the Tribes
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Today in Pioneer History: "On May 9, 1964, Louis Armstrong, age 63 broke the Beatles stronghold on the U.S. pop charts with the #1 hit, "Hello Dolly." *My dad rejoiced!) The Beatles had held the spot for almost four straight months starting in February 1964 with "I Wanna Hold Your Hand."

A New Hope for the Natives

About the year 1768, a Creek squaw of a Shawnee warrior gave birth to three sons near present day Springfield, Ohio.  One is rarely mentioned in history.  The second became known as simply "The Prophet."  The third named, Tecumseh, "the shooting star", was tall, handsome, daring, energetic, fluent of speech, given to deep reflection, and a hater of white men.

Tecumseh had uncommon traits in his culture.  He had perfect self-command, a keen insight into human motives and purpose,s and an exceptional capacity to organize men and plans to completion. 
He gained the respect of the whites as "the most statesman-like member of his race."

Tecumseh was merely a boy when he became aware of the continued advancement of white men on his people's hunting grounds.  He envisioned a permanent and single confederacy of all Indian tribes consisting not of chiefs, but of warriors.  It would be governed by a warrior's congress of popular rule.  Joint ownership of all Indian lands would prevent the white man from piecemeal acquisition of Indian land.  Tecumseh wanted to pick up where Pontiac left off, but with a much more powerful plan.

Even though the plan was brilliant, it was not practical.  The chiefs didn't support it, for it took away tribal independence and the chief's authority.  Tecumseh was not a chief, had no sanction of birth or title.  It's success depended on building inter-tribal unity which Indians had never known.  It certainly ran counter to the advancing white population.  Tecumseh was not deterred.  He traveled from one end of the country to the other arguing with chiefs, motivating warriors and making quite an impression on the native people.  Eventually events in the territory and beyond helped to bring tribes into the union of warriors.

In the spring of 1808, Tecumseh and his brother, The Prophet, carried their plans forward by taking up residence in central Indiana where the Tippecanoe Creek flowed into the Wabash, equal distance from Vincinnes and Fort Wayne.  From this strategic location, they could canoe to the Ohio or the Mississippi and Great Lakes.  The village soon grew to the hundreds where livestock was acquired, crops were grown, and whiskey was strictly forbidden.

Next time...Tecumseh meets Harrison
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Today in Pioneer History:  "On May 6,  1937, the German airship, the Hindenburg, the largest dirigible ever built, explodes as it arrives in Lakehurst, New Jersey.  The whole tragedy was broadcast by radio where 36 people were killed. It was more than 800 feet long, had a range of 8,000 miles, and was filled with 7 million cubic feet of hydrogen with a Mercedes-Benz engine. It could hold 97 people.

Early in the War of 1812

According to Congressman Henry Clay, "the militia of Kentucky alone is competent to place Montreal and Upper Canada at your feet."   If you read more about Henry Clay, the man, you learn he is quite temperamental and prone to going on tirades about things he believed regardless if they were true...

Congress declared war on June 18, 1812 and once again challenged the powerful British.  Not all agreed with the decision.  New England was openly opposed to "Mr. Madison's War."  They sent no militia, vowing to let the West and the South do the fighting.


William Hull, the Governor of Michigan territory, was the choice for the Canadian campaign.  Hull's utter lack of enthusiasm was second only to his retreat.  Britain, on the other hand, lead by Issac Brock, joined Tecumseh warriors and went on the offensive.

On August 15, 1812, the British surrounded Detroit and demanded surrender.  Hull tamely complied without fight and 2000 Americans laid down their arms. Hull became a prisoner of war and America suffered a humiliating defeat.

In the West, General William Henry Harrison's army was busy fending off Indian and British attacks on Fort Wayne, Fort Harrison and other forts.  No time to be offensive. 

Next time - Harrison's march to Canada
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Today in Pioneer History: "On February 25, 1848, Edward Harriman, the controversial savior of the transcontinental Union Pacific Railroad, is born in Hempstead, New York.  The son of an Episcopal minister, Harriman disliked school and dropped out to become a broker’s boy when he was 14. To the amazement of the stockbrokers on Wall Street, the young Harriman demonstrated an uncanny ability to pick winning stocks, and he had his own seat on the stock exchange by the age of 21.

Tecumseh and William Henry Harrison

November 11, 1811 an army under William Henry Harrison (Governor of Indiana Territory) defeated Tecumseh's warriors at the Battle of Tippecanoe.  The Indians had attacked Harrison's army, but with Tecumseh absent they lost.

Tecumseh's brother, named "the Prophet" wielded great spiritual influence.  His headquarters were at Prophetstown.  Harrison had it burned. Tecumseh was traveling - recruiting tribes to his confederation when Prophetstown was lost.

The causalities were high for Harrison. (40 Indians to 61 Americans) He claimed the Indians were armed with British weapons which only heightened already anti-British feeling.  British were violating Americans right on the high seas at this time, leading to the War of 1812.

When the war broke out, Tecumseh led his warriors onto the British side.  They had notable victories at Detroit and Raisin River, but Tecumseh was killed at the Battle of the Thames River.  With him died all hope of an Indian nation.

Next time...Blood on the Frontier
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Today in Pioneer History: "On February 22, 1828, the first printing press designed to use the newly invented Cherokee alphabet arrives at New Echota, Georgia. The General Council of the Cherokee Nation had purchased the press with the goal of producing a Cherokee-language newspaper. The press itself, however, would have been useless had it not been for the extraordinary work of a young Cherokee named Sequoyah, who invented a Cherokee alphabet.

Tecumseh - Great Indian and Warrior and Statesman

Tecumseh, more than any Indian leader, saw the need to unite his people in resistance to the white man.  He became closer than any other Indian to persuading his people to abandon their own interests and traditions to achieve Indian unity. 

He was the son of a Shawnee war chief name Puckeshinwa and a woman (probably Creek) named Methoataske.  He was born near present day Dayton, Ohio.  His father was murdered when he was six years old by white men trespassing on tribal lands and that changed his life.  He detested white men deeply for as long as he lived.


Tecumseh was adopted by Shawnee Blackfish who had also adopted Daniel Boone.  Tecumseh was 15 when he took part in actual combat, but quickly gained a reputation as a skillful and fearless warrior.  He also developed an unusual humanness in dealing with white settlers.

By 20 years of age, Tecumseh lead his own band of warriors.  By 1792 he was the leader of the Shawnee along the southern border of the United States.  He fought incessantly, believing that no individuals or tribes had the right to sell any part of common heritage.  "Why don't you just sell air, or clouds, the great sea as well as the earth?"

At 30 years of age, Tecumseh fell in love with the daughter of a white settler, Rebecca Galloway.  Under her influence Tecumseh studied the Bible, Shakespeare and classical history.  He proposed marriage but she insisted he live as a white man.  Despite his rejection of white culture, he was greatly influenced by it.

Next time - Battle of Tippecanoe
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On this Day in Pioneer History:  On February 15, 1812,  Wilson Hunt and his party stumble into the fur-trading post of Astoria, Oregon, .having departed St. Louis more than two years earlier,
Wilson was later romanticized as the archetypal frontier hero in Washington Irving’s novel Astoria, which chronicled the early Far West fur trade.

British and Indian Trouble

Britain was considered a threat to the whole nation at this time, in particular the western territories.  Britain was fighting Napoleon and had shut off her ports to tobacco, cotton, salt pork, and grain.  The agricultural west was in deep economic trouble.

Rumors persisted that British officials in Canada were arming Indians of the Northwest Territory,
encouraging them to stop land cessions and attack the settlers so Britain would retain the fur trade of the Great Lakes region.

By 1806 Shawnee chief Tecumseh was roaming the frontier from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, urging tribes to form a great coalition to resist US demands and establish a sovereign Indian state in the yet unsettled upper Mississippi Valley.  He would fight or negotiate whichever was needed.

Next time...Tecumseh - Great Warrior and Indian Statesman
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Today in Pioneer History: On February 11. 1807, Sacagawea, the Shoshone Indian interpreter and guide to the Lewis and Clark expedition, gives birth to her first child, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau.