The reasoning of the Governor was cogent. The motive that had prompted the British to hold the frontier posts for so many years after the revolution, was to secure a monopoly of the fur trade. Their traders constantly urged the tribes to bring in peltries, and this led to a merciless slaughter of animals for their hides alone. These measures involved the ultimate destruction of the food supply of the tribes. It was also true that the tribes along the Wabash were exhausting the supply of wild game. The plan of inducing them to accept annuities and to purchase cattle, hogs and other domestic animals for the purpose of replenishing their food supply, seemed highly plausible to the minds of that day. That the Weas on the lower Wabash would be better off if removed from the immediate neighborhood of the white settlements where they could purchase fire-water and indulge their vices, did not admit of doubt. It was possibly the only plan of bringing relief from the troubles which were daily augmenting between the two races of men. From the first, however, the appeal of the Governor met with a cold reception at the hands of the Mississinewa chiefs. That their feelings in the matter were prompted by their jealousy of the other tribes present, and their claim to the sole disposal of any of the lands along the Wabash, there can be no doubt. Little Turtle was soon won over, but the younger and more aggressive chiefs of the Miami villages were hostile to him and openly expressed their disapproval of his conduct. The Mississinewa chiefs were also violently opposed to the pretensions of Winamac and the Potawatomi. They claimed that the Potawatomi were new comers and usurpers and had no right to a voice in the sale of lands in the Wabash valley. The Mississinewa chiefs prevailed. On the twenty-fourth the Miamis, "declared their determination not to sell a foot of land, observing that it was time to put a stop to the encroachments of the whites who were eternally purchasing their lands for less than the real value of them. That they had also heard that the governor had no instructions to make any purchase, but was making it upon his own authority to please the white people whom he governed." On the twenty-fifth, the Governor, to overcome their opposition, made another long appeal in open council, declaring that the British alone were responsible for the feeling between the races. On that occasion he gave expression to certain ideas that Tecumseh afterwards eagerly seized upon as an argument in favor of the communistic ownership of all the Indian lands, and as an argument against the sale of 1809. The governor said: "Potawatomis and Miamis, look upon each other as brothers, and at the same time look upon your grandfathers, the Delawares. I love to see you all united. I wish to hear you speak with one voice the dictates of one heart. All must go together. The consent of all is necessary. Delawares and Potawatomis, I told you that I could do nothing with the