Taylor University - Ilium / Gem Yearbook (Upland, IN)

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CAMPUS VIEWS

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§iil SilplilMili Sli|IIIIEl| iipiiilillii s liiiiilllrf Li e of Tecumseh F all the struggles of the Indians to hold their lands against the white man, the most dramatic was the one which had for its leader the great Shawnee chief, Tecumseh. Born on M.id Creek, near the present city of Springfield, Ohio, about the year 1768, he had from his earliest childhood seen suffering brought to his people by the whites. Year after year he beheld his people deprived of their homes and pushed farther and farther back from their fields and hunting grounds; he saw them demor- .ilized also by the white man ' s fire-water sold them by unscrupulous traders. He knew that the fate of the Indians was sealed, unless the • should join together in resisting the invaders. So he formed his plan of uniting the Indian tribes in a great confederacy. Earlier, the Ottawa chief, Pontiac, had allied with the French, but the signing of the treaty of 1763 had put an end to his dreams. Tecumseh hoped for better success through the formation of a permanent confed- eracy. He went from tribe to tribe, firing the Indians bv his eloquence, for this untaught savage was a natural orator of great power. He was a ded by his brother Tenskwatawa, The Prophet, who was believed to possess miraculous powers. The brothers established at the junction of the Tippecanoe and Wabash rivers, in northern Indiana, a village known as The Prophet ' s Town, which was to be the headquarters of the federation. Then in 1809 Governor Vm. Henrv Harrison, of Indiana Territory, negotiated the Treaty of Fort Wayne, by which certain Miami chiefs ceded to the United States gov- ernment about three million acres of land on both sides of the Wabash, at a price which amounted to one-third of a cent per acre. Tecumseh claimed that the chiefs had no right to barter away hunting grounds that belonged to all the Indians, for a few paltry gifts or a keg or two of liquor. At a council held at Vincennes he told Governor Harrison that there could be no peace between the Indians and the whites until the land was ceded back. Tecumseh then set out on a long mission to the southern Indians to enlist their support. In his absence. Governor Harrison began the construction of a blockhouse on the ceded land where Terre Haute, Indiana now stands. Having friction with the Indians, he marched upon the Prophet ' s Town, and in the bloody battle of Tippecanoe, near the site of Lafayette, he completely destroyed and defeated the Indians. This ended forever Tecumseh ' s dream of a powerful Indian confederacy. He distinguished himself in battle, not only by his bravery and skill as a warrior, but by the humanity which he showed toward his foes. At the siege of Fort Meigs, for instance, he prevented a terrible massacre of the American prisoners. This is especially notable in view of the fact that Harrison practically massacred the Indians after he bottled them up in the confluence of the two rivers at Tippecanoe. Then we find that Tecumseh held no bitterness and displayed a more civilized spirit than did the white soldiers of Harrison at Tippecanoe. He met his death in the Battle of the Thames, while bravely resisting an attack of American Cavalry under Colonel Richard M. Johnson. He was one of the greatest of American Indians, with a superb body, a powerful mind, and the soul of a hero. Quoted — Conip uii ' s Encyclopaedia

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