The Chemawa American, November 01, 1913, Page 6, Image 6

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THE
CHEMAWA AMERICAN
“ braves” descended the W abash by canoes from T ippecanoe to V incen­
nes. T h a t council was one of th e spectacular scenes in w estern Indian
h istory. T h e governor, w ith his m ilitary retin u e, was seated on the
portico of his residence, su rro u n d ed by the governm ent troops; before
him under th e tall trees, in a sem i-circle sat the assembled chiefs, some
forty in num ber, w ith th eir escorts, all attired in the gorgeous costum es
of th e w arp ath . T ecum seh m ade tw o addresses in w hich he boldly set
forth th e claim of his people and th e w rongs inflicted upon them by the
w hites. For glow ing rhetoric, lofty sentim ent and patriotic persu a­
sion, these speeches are unsurpassed in In d ian literatu re. T h ey are
reported in full in the A m erican A rchives and evidence T ecu m seh 's
nobility of ch aracter and incom parable pow ers of oratory. 1 he council
was held in vain; it closed w ith th e firm belief both by the G ovenor
and the Chief th a t w ar was inevitable.
A gain T ecum seh appealed to the d istan t tribes of his people, visiting
the tribes, S outh, W est and N o rth . It w as d u rin g his absence on this
final “ rally in g ro u n d ” th a t the Prophet, im p atien t for action and ne­
glectful of his b ro th e r’s in stru ctio n s to rem ain inactive, engaged in
battle w ith H arrison and the governm ent troops, at T ippecanoe.
It
proved a W aterloo for the forest w arriors, th e P ro p h e t’s followers were
routed and the P ro p h e t’s tow n destroyed. T ecum seh retu rn ed ju st after
th is terrible repulse to his cause b u t undism ayed he continued his plans
for a great and final w ar.
In Ju n e, 1812, the U nited States declared w ar against G reat B ritain.
T h is afforded T ecum seh the psychological m om ent for the fulfillm ent of
his life effort. H e would ally his g reat confederacy to the B ritish cause
and the alliance m ust surely regain the N orthw est for the defrauded and
defeated tribesm en. W illiam H ull, territorial governor of M ichigan,
and general of th e A m erican arm y of the N orthw est, issued a proclam ­
ation th a t th is was a w hite m a n ’s w ar and asking th e In d ian s to rem ain
n eu tral. T ecum seh decried the request of H u ll, called loudly upon his
people to rally to the B ritish cause and personally hastened to M alden,
Canada, w here he offered his services to G eneral Isaac Brock, m ilitary
com m ander of U pper C anada.
T h e services of th e g reat chief were
gladly accepted and he was th e first, w hile at the head of a small
band of his tribe, to draw th e blood of the A m ericans, in an encounter
near Brow nstow n, on the A m erican side, a few miles from D etroit. Prom
th is event on, T ecum seh bore a conspicuous part in the w ar, recru iting
h u n d red s of his tribesm en for the B ritish cause and becom ing one of the
chief advisers to the British officials in the m ovem ents about th e D etroit
R iver. C om m anding th e Indian allies, under G eneral Brock, T ecum seh
was a ju b ila n t w itness of the inglorious su rren d er by G eneral H ull, of
D etroit, and w hen Brock, the British general, on receiving th e A m erican