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. 

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.

The Prophet

In 1761 the tension among the Indians in the Old Northwest was increasing.  The appearance of a "prophet" among the Delawares, calling for all Indian races to purge itself of foreign influences and to unite to drive the white man from the land,  came forth.  The leadership of the great revolt fell upon Pontiac, who lived on a wooded island in Lake St. Clair outside the fortifications of Detroit.

Pontiac, principal chief of the Ottawa tribe, was made head of a powerful confederation of Ottawas, Ojibwas and Potawatomi in 1763.  He was respected from the Ohio to the Mississippi.  During the winter of 1763, his plans secretly passes from Indian nation to Indian nation throughout the Old Northwest and beyond. Upside down wampam belts and reddened tomahawks were the symbols of war.

In April of 1763, the tribes were summoned to a great council on the shores of Ecorces, below Detroit where Pontiac proclaimed the will of the "Master of Life" as revealed to him.  Algonquin and Senecas from the Iroquois confederacy pledged their support. 

A simultaneous attack, timed by a change in the moon, was planned on English forts and settlements throughout the Old Northwest.  The tribes would attack the nearest settlement to them, and Detroit belonged to Pontiac himself.  Four days prior to the planned attacks, Pontiac and 40 of his warriors visited Detroit to claim their undying friendship to the Great Father across the water.  The new commander, Major Gladwyn, had heard of trouble through his Ottawa girlfriend according to legend.

Pontiac saw that the whole garrison was under arms and was told by Gladwyn that they were training exercises.  After trying to talk peace, Pontiac was refused entrance and left.  On May 7th, the ruse was up and hostilities began in earnest. 

For six months the settlement was besieged.  There was little actual fighting and loss of life was insignificant.  The French refused to offer the Indians assistance, and in October Pontiac humbly sought peace again. 

Meanwhile a reign of terror spread...next time
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Today in Pioneer History:  "On January 14, 1639, in Hartford, Connecticut, the first constitution in the American colonies, the 'Fundamental Orders' was adopted by representatives of Wethersfield, Windsor and Hartford."