Elkswatawa : $b or, The prophet of the west. A tale of the frontierFrench, James Strange
General
Elkswatawa : $b or, The prophet of the west. A tale of the frontier
French, James Strange
Tippecanoe, Battle of, Ind., 1811 -- Fiction
When the tide of emigration first began to flow, the wigwams of the
Indians served as a barrier, and for a time stayed its progress; but,
as the flood increased, they were forced to desert their homes, and
recede from its influence. Having smoked the pipe of peace with the
stranger, they spoke not a word, but with feelings of deep sorrow,
left the graves of their fathers, and retiring farther into the
forest, selected another spot whereon to fix their cabins. But
scarcely were they settled in their new abodes, before the axe of the
pioneer again resounded in their ears, and the lodge of a squatter was
seen rising in the distance. With the approach of the whites,
retreated the game which was the sole support of the Indians, and
again they plunged yet deeper into the recesses of the forest, and
murmured not.
But when they began to find that one encroachment was but the prelude
to another, and that patient endurance availed them nothing,
suppressed murmurs were at first heard, then hoarser remonstrances,
and finally out they spoke, talked of right and wrong, and denounced
the whites as grasping and unjust, till the sparks of vengeance which
were to kindle up a flame among the tribes, were then first blown
abroad.
But setting aside the encroachments of the whites, there were other
causes for their discontent; causes, which deeply agitated them, and
stirred up in each one feelings of revenge. The treaty of Greenville,
though seemingly just in its provisions, had been wrung from their
necessities, and although at its conclusion, all the chiefs expressed
themselves satisfied, and an opinion pervaded the country that a firm
peace had been established, still there were many of the Indians in
whose bosoms hatred against the whites was not extinguished, but
continued to glow with a burning desire of vengeance. To them the
treaty was but the smothering of a fire to keep it alive, and their
sense of unavenged wrongs was like a secret volcano, consuming itself
with its own fires, and accumulating the power to burst forth.—The
warriors who entertained these feelings belonged to the tribe of the
Shawanees, decidedly the most warlike on our continent, and had often
fought first among the foremost, in many of the numerous conflicts in
which their tribe had been engaged.—Those to whom we particularly
allude, were present at the treaty of Greenville, and though too young
to be allowed a voice in council, left it with disgust, and from that
moment to the period of which we are writing, had been constantly
brooding over the wrongs of their country. But now, when they viewed
the continual encroachments of the whites, and saw, daily, their
dominions invaded, and their hunting grounds lessened, they began to
awaken to a sense of their danger, to breathe abroad a spirit of
revenge, and urge their countrymen on to acts of violence.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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