The Land of the Miamis: An Account of the Struggle to Secure Possession of the North-West from the End of the Revolution until 1812Barce, Elmore
History
The Land of the Miamis: An Account of the Struggle to Secure Possession of the North-West from the End of the Revolution until 1812
Barce, Elmore
Indians of North America -- Wars -- 1750-1815; Miami Indians; Northwest, Old -- History
Wells had much conversation at this time with Tecumseh, 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 Tecumseh 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 townships, 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 Tecumseh 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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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