Tecumseh is considered to be the greatest Native American war chief that ever

lived. His skills in both conflict and diplomacy make him a superb leader. Only once

every few generations is one born with the qualities to become a gifted and skilled leader.

Tecumseh was one of those people.

It is rare to find a Native American who is a skilled warrior, can unite a great

number of tribes against a common enemy, and can lead his people with true selflessness.

Never in Native American history had someone possessed all of these qualities at such an

opportune time to use them as Tecumseh did. Using his ability to convince fellow war

chiefs to join his cause, Tecumseh would unite almost all tribes east of the Mississippi

against the white man.

It was Tecumseh’s goal to defeat the Americans and push them off the land west

of the Appalachian Mountains. If all went as planned, Tecumseh thought there was a

possibility of driving the Americans off of the continent. Using his brother, Laulewasika,

as a prophet Tecumseh gathered tribes from all across the land until he felt he had a

strong enough force to drive out the Americans once and for all.

This coalition of Native American tribes waged war upon the United States of

America and if it had not been for some ill fortune, the Native Americans could very

possibly, today, own all of the land west of the Appalachian Mountains.

The threat that Tecumseh and his army of Native Americans was very real, but not

many people recognized it for the threat it really was. It potentially would have cut off
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American settlement past the Appalachian Mountains and without these resources

America might not exist today. The revolt caused by Tecumseh’s Confederation of

Native American tribes was one of the great threats to western expansion that United

States of America has ever encountered.

The exact date of Tecumseh’s birth is unknown but 1768 is generally the accepted

estimate. He was born in Ohio Country in one of the Shawnee towns along the Scioto

River and probably lived there for much of his childhood. Tecumseh’s father was also a

member of the Shawnee but his mother is said to be Creek or Cherokee. This is very

unusual because it is not often that a woman marries outside her own tribe. War between

the white men and Tecumseh’s people played a large part in his childhood. His father,

Pukeshinwah, was killed in Lord Dunmore's War at the Battle of Point Pleasant in 1774.

After the death of his father, Tecumseh was mainly raised by his brother, Chiksika, who

was an important war leader. It is likely that Tecumseh accompanied his brother to small

fights between the whites and Native Americans (Tecumseh's Early Years).

When Tecumseh’s, mother died, an adored older sister raised him and set a

standard that neither of his two wives could live up to. In each case he found minor

offenses as an excuse to send them away (Langguth158).

Tecumseh soon learned the ways of war and began to stand out from the other

young Native Americans in his Shawnee town. He excelled not only in physical games

but also in the strategic aspects. He quickly emerged as somewhat of a prodigy and

elevated himself in the tribe until he became a respected war chief.

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His own name had been bestowed during his initiation as a warrior, in a painful

rite. The aspiring teenager was suspended from stakes driven through his shoulder

muscles and was expected to show no pain. Next he was sent to the woods to ask for

guidance from the Great Spirit (Langguth 157).

After days of hunger and fasting, Tecumseh saw a vision. He returned to the

elders to say that he had seen a meteor that took the shape of the panther- the tribe’s

totem- and chased away a dragon. The elders saw this as a good omen from the gods and

named him Tecumseh, which means Shooting Star (Langguth 161).

Tecumseh’s upbringing was marked by constant warfare. At the age of twelve, he

watched the American Colonel, George Rogers Clark, lead an army of one thousand men

in a raid of a Native American village in Kentucky. Crossing the Ohio River, Clark and

his men razed Chillicothe and then to the town of Piqua, where they destroyed corn crop

and shot down Indian men defending their wigwams (Langguth 163).

Tecumseh’s oldest brother was killed fighting alongside the Cherokee against

white settlers, and when Tecumseh was twenty-six, another one of his brothers died in

battle. By this time Tecumseh was already protesting the selling of Native American

lands to the white settlers. In 1798, he refused to recognize a sale even tough the treaty

had been signed on behalf of a fellow Shawnee elder by the name of Blue Jacket.

Tecumseh argued that Indian land was the common property of all tribes and could not be

sold by any one of them (Langguth 159).

Tecumseh held himself to much higher moral standards than many of the other

Native Americans. When Tecumseh was just sixteen he denounced the burning alive of a
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white prisoner. He then went on to lecture the elders against the brutality of this

inhumane torture. He vowed that he would never take part in it, nor would he allow the

killing of women or children (Langguth 159).

Tecumseh’s moral standards are evident by this speech given to his fellow

Indians.

"So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and
demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, and
beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its
purpose in the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song for
the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or a sign
of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a
lonely place. Show respect to all people and grovel to none. When you
arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If
you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. Abuse
no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the
spirit of its vision. When it comes your time to die, be not like those
whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time
comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over
again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going
home."-Tecumseh (Bent)

Tecumseh's brother, usually referred to simply as the Prophet, was the spiritual

leader of the movement in the early days. The Prophet used the predictions of Tecumseh

to fuel his rising popularity. The Prophet preached a new Indian religion which

encouraged the rejection of all white handouts, especially liquor, and a return to Native

ways. He sought a complete rejection of white culture. If Indians could return to their old

lives, the Prophet foresaw a day in which the Great Spirit would wipe white folks off the

face of the earth and return the land to the way it had been before they arrived (Allen).

As the movement progressed, the Prophet faded into the background as Tecumseh

glided to the forefront. Tecumseh's leadership skills soon became obvious to everyone,
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including his enemies. In the War of 1812, Tecumseh's multi-tribal forces joined with

British troops to repel an attempt by the United States to invade Canada. He then led

Indian-British forces in battles across the frontier. Knowing that the British were using

the Indians, as Indians used the British, Tecumseh gambled for his people's freedom.

British and Indian interests were never fully aligned. In the end, neither the British

army's half-hearted assistance nor the tenuous unity of the tribes could regain the Indians'

homeland. (The War of 1812 and Tecumseh) (Bent).

During one of Tecumseh’s journeys to find support to his cause his elder brother,

Chiksika, wrote him a letter about the ways of the white men.

“When a white man kills an Indian in a fair fight it is called honorable,

but when an Indian kills a white man in a fair fight it is called murder.
When a white army battles Indians and wins it is called a great victory,
but if they lose it is called a massacre and bigger armies are raised. If
the Indian flees before the advance of such armies, when he tries to
return he finds that white men are living where he lived. If he tries to
fight off such armies, he is killed and his land is taken away. When an
Indian is killed I is a great loss which leaves a gap in our people and a
sorrow in our heart; when a white is killed, three or four others step up
to take his place and there is no end to it. The white man seeks to
conquer nature, to bend it to his will and use it wastefully until it is all
gone and then he simply moves on, leaving the waste behind him and
looking for new places to take. The whole white race is a monster who
is always hungry and what he eats is land.” -Chiksika, elder brother of
Tecumseh. (Eckert)

Tecumseh is most famous for creating a pan-Indian confederation during the early

1800s which he hoped would be capable of resisting the young United States in its

ruthless expansion westward. Time after time white administrators tricked individual

chiefs into signing treaties to give up land against the will and best interests of their

tribes. The U.S. Army, helped by irregular militias, rushed to enforce these unjust

agreements. Increasingly, tribes found themselves occupying ever shrinking slivers of

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land. Game became scarce. They soon found that they had to rely on government

handouts to survive. During Tecumseh's lifetime, the need for Indians to do something

drastic about the situation became apparent. Tecumseh was not the first to forge a multi-

tribal confederation to resist white expansion. Several formed and dissolved before he

rose to prominence. Tecumseh, though, was a passionate warrior and diplomat who

possessed talents which no previous Indian leader possessed. Remarkably, he succeeded

in smoothing out many tribal feuds while at the same time rallying British forces,

however indirectly, to his cause (Allen) (Bent).

To fully understand the military aspect of Tecumseh’s life one must first

understand his military rival, William Henry Harrison. During the time of Tecumseh’s

rebellion Harrison was thirty-seven years old. He had intended to study medicine but

when his father died and he ran out of money, Harrison enlisted in the army. Harrison

had always been fascinated by military history and happily left behind the comforts of

life on a Virginia plantation (Borneman 120).

Harrison thrived on the frontier, serving as an aide to General “Mad” Anthony

Wayne. After the Ohio Territory was opened Harrison went to the capital to expand white

communities throughout the territory. Harrison soon began living on the frontier and

dealt with many Native Americans in his time there. Harrison concluded that the Indians

were much more hospitable to friends and visitors then the white race. He observed that

they seemed to have few laws but instead depended on moral sense of right and wrong.

They were a very honorable people and he respected that very much. Harrison’s view of

the Indian warrior differed greatly from most opinions in that time. He saw them as
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people who acted on whims and emotions rather than steadfast, fierce people who never

lost focus (Borneman 119).

Harrison suspected that if the Indians had formed a federation the British would

surely provoke them into declaring war upon America. Although Britain seemed to

genuinely want peace (Borneman 119).

In August 1810, Tecumseh paddled down the Wabash River to complain to

Harrison about a recent land sale by the Miami Tribe. Acting for the American

Government, the governor had bought about three million acres on both side of the

Wabash (Borneman 120).

Tecumseh arrived with four hundred warriors in about eighty canoes that were

painted for war. One U.S army officer on the scene admitted to being terrified by the

sight, but also described their leader as “perhaps one of the finest-looking men I ever

saw.” Harrison had set out chairs for Tecumseh and his forty personal guard and advisors,

but the chief insisted that they talk in a nearby grove. Harrison yielded and the chairs

were brought out to the woods for the American delegation while the Shawnee sat on the

ground. Tecumseh came quickly to the point; the Treaty of Fort Wayne must be repealed.

He argued the Americans had already forced the Indians off the seacoast and would soon

be driving them into the Great Lakes. As he spoke, Tecumseh acknowledged that he had

threatened to kill the chief that had signed the treaty. Under the coalition he was forming,

the village chiefs had to turn their power over to the war chiefs.

As he recited the white man’s crime against the tribes from the beginning of the

revolution, Tecumseh’s language was clearly evident of his Shawnee heritage. Harrison
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tried to calm his mood by saying that the land belonged to the Miami’s and they could

sell it if they wanted to. He said it was ridiculous to claim that the Indians had owned the

nation. If it had been the Great Spirit’s intention they would all speak the same language

(Tecumseh: People and Stories).

When the interpreter began to convey Harrison’s message, Tecumseh leaped to his

feat and launched a passionate rebuttal. Harrison couldn’t understand what he was saying

but his gestures looked violent. By now the Indians were on their feet and brandishing

their tomahawks and war clubs. Everyone looked to Harrison as he drew a short saber at

his side. The Americans at the scene outnumbered the Indians but many were civilians

and were unarmed. Tecumseh’s army of four thousand could have murdered them all

(Tecumseh 1768-1815).

Harrison learned that a Tecumseh had told his warrior that all Harrison said was

false and Harrison told Tecumseh that he was an evil man and that he would have no

more dealing with him. Since the Indians had arrived under the protection of council fire,

Harrison ordered them to return to their tribes by the next day (Sugden).

To enforce his ruling, Harrison called two companies of militia from the country

side, who arrived during the night. The next morning, however, Tecumseh sent a request

that he be allowed to explain his conduct. Harrison agreed, and Tecumseh appeared,

dignified and respectful. He presented chiefs from the Winnebagos, Wyandots,

Kickapoos, Ottawas, and Potawatamies that had entered into Tecumseh’s confederacy

(Tecumseh: Shawnee Warrior).

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After hearing Tecumseh out, Harrison decided that if it were not for America,

Tecumseh might have been able to form and army that rivaled that of Mexico or Peru.

Although Harrison did not realize it at the time, Tecumseh was trying to forge the strong

central union that the American colonists had formed in Philadelphia (Langguth 166).

During the next year tensions mounted when Indians murdered four white men on

the Missouri River and seized an entire boatload. Summoned by Harrison Tecumseh

explained that the murders were not under his control and dismissed the issue over the

salt. To Harrisons repeated remarks about the ill-effects of an all-Indian confederation,

Tecumseh replied he was only following the American example. Tecumseh explained

that he would be leaving to go to Michigan and Illinois territories to recruit new tribes

and that the Prophet would take over during his absence. He also stated that all sale of

land while he was gone was strictly prohibited (Johansen 384).

By October 1811, Harrison thought he might be able to break up the concentration

of warriors without firing a shot. He would advance on the settlement peacefully, but

with an army so large the Prophet would be intimidated into disbanding. Harrison left the

town of Vincennes with more than a thousand men and stopped along the Wabash to

build a fort that he named after himself. After months of hard work the soldiers had set

up camp about ten miles away from Prophetstown. Harrison than marched another five

miles and sent a messenger to set up a meeting with the Prophet (Langguth 168).

But when the Indians captured Harrison’s emissaries, Harrison advanced toward

the Shawnee camp. Shawnee interpreters arrived and asked why the Americans were

making war like moves and that the Shawnee only wanted peace. Harrison was
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suspicious, but he made camp and proposed a formal meeting. The Indians were under

orders from Tecumseh as strict as those that bound Harrison. The Indians showed

Harrison a good place to make camp close to a stream (Langguth168).

To take revenge of the embarrassment the Americans had caused him the year

before, the Prophet convinced his warriors that with Harrison still alive there was no way

the Indians could win and that if he was killed the rest of the army would run away and

be easily captured (Langguth 168).

Early in the morning that braves crept on the American camp. The Prophet had

chosen 100 of his best warrior for this assassination and made an elixir that he told them

would repel bulled from their bodies. As they crept on the camp they were spotted by a

sentinel, who fired a warning shot. Although the Shawnee usually preferred from behind

rocks and trees, they came out in the open and fell upon the Americans (Langguth 169).

With dawn the American overcame their initial surprise and mounted a

counterattack that drove the Indians back. As their causalities mounted the Shawnees

realized the Prophet had lied to them and fled back into the woods with Harrison’s men in

pursuit. The Americans set fire to Prophetstown and confiscated everything of value.

With Tippecanoe destroyed, Harrison sent dispatchers to Washington to tell of this epic

victory (Langguth 171).

Tecumseh rode home, gratified by the success in organizing the southern tribes.

But when he reached the dismal battle scene, he learned that his orders had been ignored.

The Prophet blamed the loss on his wife saying that she was unclean and desecrated his

sacred string of beans. When Tecumseh calmed down he planed his next move, Sending
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word to Harrison that he was back from his travels, Tecumseh asked that he be given

permission to call on the President in Washington to reestablish peace. His request was

granted, although he refused to make the trip because the officials would not let him

bring any warriors with him (Langguth 173).

After this incident Tecumseh fled to British Canada, where, during the War of

1812, he was put in command of a force of whites and Indians was a British brigadier.

Harrison’s forces met Tecumseh again in Kentucky at the Battle of the Thames. During

the battle, Tecumseh was killed. After seeing their leader fall the Indians fled the field

and the Indian confederation was over. The Indians soon broke apart and the War of

1812 came to an end. The US had effectively terminated all the armed Indian resistance

in the Ohio Valley and surrounding areas (Johansen 386).

Although he was considered the most successful Native American of all time, he

failed to free his people and some view his cause as detrimental to the Indian race as a

whole. He was a once in a lifetime chief but the strength of the United States of

American military was just too much to overcome.

Had Tecumseh achieved his overall goal he would have pushed the American

back east of the Appalachian Mountains and maybe off of the continent. The loss of

Tippecanoe was the turning point for Tecumseh and his federation. Had it not been for

the foolishness and temper of his brother Tecumseh might have succeed in his goals of

regaining all lost Native American land.

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Had Tecumseh accomplished his aspirations American as we know it would not

exist today. It is not far-fetched to think that, had Tecumseh regained all lost Native

American land, the Native American tribes would own all the land from the Appalachian

Mountains to the Pacific Ocean.

In conclusion, had Tecumseh’s plan succeeded American would have never been

able to expand any farther than the Appalachian Mountains and would be a much smaller

and much weaker country today.