Part 13 (1/2)

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 a.s.sailants 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, doc.u.mentary proof was furnished by Governor Howard.

Harrison sent William Wells and John Conner to Tippecanoe to demand rest.i.tution 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 Tec.u.mseh 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. Tec.u.mseh boldly attempted to excuse all these outrages in a subsequent conference with the Governor.

Wells had much conversation at this time with Tec.u.mseh, 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 Tec.u.mseh 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 towns.h.i.+ps, 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 Tec.u.mseh 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 Tec.u.mseh. 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 s.h.i.+rt men were as numerous as the mosquitoes on the sh.o.r.es 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, Tec.u.mseh 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. Tec.u.mseh 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 princ.i.p.ally of barren thickets, interspersed with swamps and lakes, into which our cavalry could not penetrate, and our infantry only by slow and laborious marches.”

Tec.u.mseh 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 Tec.u.mseh 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 Tec.u.mseh'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 prompt.i.tude and foresight of the Governor probably prevented a ma.s.sacre.

Harrison sought an immediate interview, but was not able to bring Tec.u.mseh 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 Tec.u.mseh 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. Tec.u.mseh 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 a.s.sembling 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 Tec.u.mseh had last year set up on behalf of all the tribes on the continent. He also declared that Tec.u.mseh 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.

Tec.u.mseh 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 Tec.u.mseh, 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 Tec.u.mseh, told him that it lay within his power to manifest the truth of his professions of friends.h.i.+p 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 Tec.u.mseh 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 s.h.i.+ning. He told the a.s.sembled 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 prompt.i.tude and foresight of the Governor probably averted a ma.s.sacre. It was the opinion of all the neutral Indians on the ground that Tec.u.mseh meditated a stroke. His manner throughout the council was embarra.s.sed, 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 Tec.u.mseh 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 Tec.u.mseh 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 s.h.i.+rt 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, Tec.u.mseh, with a retinue of twenty chiefs, including the famous Potawatomi, Shaubena, pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.s 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 Tec.u.mseh pay to him is really astonis.h.i.+ng, and more than any other circ.u.mstance 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 sh.o.r.es of Lake Erie or Michigan, or on the banks of the Mississippi, and wherever he goes he makes an impression favorable to his purposes.”