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Show P # tie le of Thames 125 Years Ago Agoded Agoded Agoded | ded Career ofa of a Great R Red d ManThe ManK ManH Man K H Harrison's Harrisons ' Victory Victoryon on October 5 , 1813 , Not Only Marked the Passing PassingAD AD ADthe he the : [ The Most Extraordinary Indian Character in American History " But Alsoed Also W AlsoW ed 0d Make Col R . M Johnson , Reputed Slayer of T ecumseh Tecumseh , Vice President PresidentA Presidenthe A he heUnited United States StatesIt 9 It ) Western Newspaper UnIon JHO 10 SCOTT WATSOI WATSON WATSOIof m AN October day 125 125ears 125ears ears ago there died In Inattle ina . attle one of the great greatans a ! ans the Amencan American Amencant Americanit it itt t has ever known knowne knownq q e was Tecumseh a aof > 3 of the Shawneend Shawnee nd the engagement In Ine ine e was hilled killed was the thef f the Thames This Thiss s not nearly so well wellto wellto to the aveJFge avepge ; Amen Ameni Amena Amenia a dozen others of less lessrtance lessrtance lesswrtance rtance but its after aftermakes aftermakes aftermakes [ makes it one of the'InterestIng the theinteresting interesting -'InterestIng 'InterestIng jnteresting ' - engage engagein engage'in engagein ' In the history of theStates theStates the : States Stateslistory States1story Statesstory listory 1story ! story of Tecumseh be- be be1768 be1768 be-1768 be 1768 - - 1768 when the wife of ofckeshmwau ofckesh1nwau ofuckeshinwau ckeshmwau ckesh1nwau of the Sha\\ Sha Shaw Shathe Shawthe Shawthe \ \ the Indian village of PI PIthe Pithe Pithe the Mad river nver near the thesite thesite thesite site of Springfield Sprmgfield OhIO OhIOirth Ohiolrih Ohiorth irth lrih to twin sons One of ofas ofas ofis as given the name of La Laa Late a referring referrmg to a dancesr danceor dance or some similar mstru instru mstruLater instruLater instruLater Later he would take thef the f { Tenskwataw Tenskwata\\ Tenskwata Tenskwataa \ a meaning meanmg meaningi meanmgn meaningn he heead heead heead n i ) Door through which ead his people to a new newter newter newter ter life hfe The whites would wouldas wouldmi as The Prophet whose whosea a demagogue when com corn comth cornth cornnth th the statesmanship and andgeruus andgenius andj genius geruus of his brother brothere e qne of the most senous serious senousto seriousto seriousto to white domination dommatIon of ofadle ofddle ofIdle adle ddle West that it had everother ever everother other twin twm was given the thef theit f Tikamthi Ttkamthl TikamthL or Tecumthag Tecumtha g ; One Who Springs Sprmgs and andg andg anding g that he belonged to the thethe thethe thethe the Great Medicine Medlcme Pan Panr PanI PanMeteor r I . Meteor So the Shaw Shawew Shawew Shawew ew him as the Crouchingr Crouchmgr Crouchmg Crouching r or the Shooting Star but butwould butwould butwould would write him down as aseh aseh asseh assehi eh ehn 11 n i the twins twms were six Slx yearsir yearslr years Ir lr father was killed lulled in m the theof theof theof of Point Pomt Pleasant W Va VaAndrew VaAndrew VaAndrew Andrew Lewis and his VIr VIrontlersmen Virontiersmen Virrontiersmen ontlersmen ontiersmen defeated Chief Chiefalk Chiefalk Chiefalk alk and his Shawnees Aft Aftt Aftit t young Tecumseh was wasunder wasunder wasunder under the care of an elder elderho elderr r \\ho ho uho ft \ ho taught him the ways wayslors waysiors waysnors lors iors until untll this elder brothi broths broth s killed lulled m in battle with theon theon the ' on the Tennessee frontier8 frontIeror frontIer or 1789FIghtIng 1789Fighting 1789 & Fighting Heritage Hentage Hentagethis Heritagethis > this fighting fightmg ] heritage ijentage leritage Te Teh Teh Teh h soon d stinguished stmgUlshed stingulshed him hims s a warrior warnor but one who whoore whoore whonore ore humane * and chn chit chi\altoward chi altoward \ al altoward altoward toward his enemies than thanommon thanommon thanommon ; ommon among his tnbes tribes tribesHe tribes'He tribesHe tnbesiHe iHe batf ' He fought in m two great bat > f ( that period periodat penod-at penod at period-at period - at the defeat defeatClair defeatClair defeatClair Clair m in 1792 and at Fallen Fallenlers Fallenhers Fallenicrs lers hers in 1794when 1794 when Mad Anf An f t f fY > c mso y - Wayne ayne smashed the pow I 1 pow'the powthe powI ' the Indan Ind an confederacy that that"fen thatfen thatbeen TurtleMiami TurtleIdiami been " formed by Little Turtle MIamI Idiami leaderreconciled leader cconciled reconciled reconc ' ed to accepting acceptmg peace peacethe the whites Tecumseh re- re - - d " to to reto red take part in m the Treaty Treatyweenville TreatyGreenvJlle TreatyGreenville GreenvJlle Greenville and gathered gatheredmri gatheredII1d gatheredInd II1d Ind mri mrimr hIm mr t A l-- l lftho * - _ - - a band of young war s 3 ' \ ftho \\ho ho who wars warho roved 0\ 0 o o\er o er 0er \ er the pres Indianare states pres'tales prestales presstates ' of Ohio and IndIana re finally settling settlmg down on onWhite White aboutHe n\er n er rl\er rl ricer \ in m Indiana about about"e He "e e " remained remamed there for a occupiedI years ayears occupiedhunting peacefully occupied I huntmg hunting until the contmued continued continuedoachment contmuedroachment continuedFoachment roachment Foachment of the whites upon lands uponlands Ina Inis guaranteed to the In 18 is Greenaroused by the Treaty of Green aroused him to achonn actionn action achon n ' ihe the OhioV OhIoey ground that the OhIo ey alllrlues alltribes country belonged to all tribes ln m in common he denied deniedinJi deniedrIght inJi sellands rIght . of a smgle single S16 trIbe trlb to sell ands to the whites theral When the theeofT ral government refused to toept ept thIs prIncIple and beganottatIons beganotiations began ottatIons otiations for the purchase of r ofr ofre re land : from the Red Men MenIf determined etermmed If Ifetermmed federation to form a great greatI eratIon of all the We.tern Wetern Western : . I We.ternuthern eofT Southern uthern " tnbe3 trtbes tribes for or the e of P"or Por pur " hOldng hold ng the Ohio river rtver as asenihmanent permanent aspermanent boundary beJen be ber bethe en enihmanent Jen the t\\ t ta two Horaces \ a races r Bunted ndaunted Indaunted HoracesBunted racesndaunted by the tact fact that / , , . , . y y F r rt . . xir , r i I ; a s- s sa - _ _ / a 1 r } 72 72From From an old wood cot/ cot / The cotThe Death of Tecumseh at the Battle of Pontiac the Ottawa and Little LittleTurtle LittleTurtle LittleTurtle Turtle the Miami had failed m in msuch insuch insuch such a scheme the Shawnee Shawneeleader Shawneeleader Shawneeleader leader began visiting other trIbes trIbesand tribesand tribesand and enlisting enlIstmg their support No Nodoubt Nodoubt Nodoubt doubt he was doomed to faIlure faIlureJust failurejust failure3ust Just as the other Indian leaders leadershad leadershad leadershad had failed but the chances are arethat arethat arethat that his attempt to hold back backthe backthe backthe the tide ofihlte of \ white \\ihlte ihlte settlement would wouldhave wouldhave wouldhave have come nearer realIzation realIzationthan realizationthan realizationthan than theirs had it not been for forills forhis forhis ills his brother the ProphetTecumseh Prophet ProphetTecumseh Tecumseh probably realIzed realIzedthat realizedthat realizedthat that the Prophet was a charlatan charlatanbut charlatanbut charlatanbut but he was glad enough to ha\ ha hay hae hathe ha\ethe ha ethe \ e ethe the aid of Tenskwatawa s mflu influ mfluence influence mfluence ence over the superstitious supE'rstItIous ' sav say savages sayages savages ages m In forwarding forwardmg hI his : ' > plan He Hecould Hecould Hecould could not foresee that the charac character character character ter of his twin twm brother might mightmake mightmake mightmake make him more of a lIablllt liability liabillt3 than thanan thanan thanan an asset to his cause For that thatwas thatwas thatwas was exactly eactly " { \ what hat happenedWhile happened happenedWhile While Tecumseh was attempt attemptmg attemptmg attempting mg to enhst enlIst the Southern tnbes tribes tribesin tnbesm m in his confederation the Prophet Propheton on November 7 1811 precipitated preclpltated preclpltat precipitat ed the attack on the forces of ofGen ofGen ofGen Gen William WJl1am ! Henry Harnson Harrison at atthe atthe atthe the Tippecanoe river nver which end ended ended ended ed so disastrously for the IndIans IndIansNot IndiansNot IndiansNot Not only was the Prophet thor thoroughly thoroughly thoroughly oughly discredited among the theShawnees theShawnees theShawnees Shawnees by that defeat but It Itdampened itdampened itdampened dampened the ardor of other othertrIbes othertribes othertribes trIbes for Tecumseh s scheme schemeand schemeand schemeand and he saw his elaborate plans planscrash planscrash planscrash crash to the earthEmbittered earth earthEmbittered Embittered by this dlsappomt disappoint dlsappomtment disappointrnent disappointment me-nt me nt rnent - and still unreconciled unreconclled to toacceptmg toaccepting toaccepting acceptmg accepting American Amencan dommatlon domination dommatlonover dominationover dominationover over his country Tecumseh w \ velcorned \ , el elcorned elcorned corned the outbreak of the War Warof Warof Warof of 1812 and cast his lot with the theBntlsh theBritish theBritish Bntlsh British as a possibility of regam regain regammg regainmg regaining mg control of his ancestral lands landsNearly landsNearly landsNearly Nearly all of the war chiefs fol followed followed followed lowed his leadand lead and Tecumseh Tecumsehsoon Tecumsehsoon Tecumsehsoon soon found himself the nommal nominal nommalhead nominalhead nominalhead head of more than 700 Shawnee ShawneelarnOrs Shawneetzarrlors Shawneewarriors ShawneewarriorsMade \larnOrs larnOrs tzarrlors \ larnOrslIade tzarrlorsMade \ Made l\Iade l Iade a British BrIhsh General GeneralGen GeneralGen Gen Isaac Brock commander commanderof of the British Bntlsh forces m in the West WestImmediately Westimmediately Westimmediately Immediately recognized the gen genIUS genius genills IUS of Tecumseh and made him a abrIgadIer abrigadier abrigadier brIgadIer general Thus the theShawnee theShawnee theShawnee Shawnee chIef chieftain tam had the dls dis dlstmctIon distinctron distinction tmctIon tinctron of being bemg one of two In Indlans Indeans Indians dlans deans who ever held such hIgh hIghrank highrank highrank rank in m a white man s army The Theother Theother Theother other was Gen : Ely 1ly SParker SParkeran S Parker Parkeran an IroquoIsho Iroquois \ who \\ho ho served on onGrant onGrant onGrant Grant s staff during durmg the CIvIl CIvIlwar Civilwar Civilwar CivilwarThere war warThere There was a strong bond of offriendshIp offriendship offriendship friendshIp between Brock and Te Tecumseh Tecumseh Tecumseh cumseh cumsehhlch \ which \\hlch hlch continued contmued untIl untIlBrock untilBrock untilBrock Brock s death at the Battle of ofQueenstown ofQueenstown ofQueenstown Queenstown in m October 1812 1812General 1812General 1812General General Proctor his successor successorlacked successorlacked successorlacked lacked all of the qualities which whichhad \ whichhad hlch hlchhad had won the admiration and re respect respect respect spect of Tecumseh for Brock De DespIte Despite Despite spIte the aid of the Shawnee lead leader leader leader er and the 2 000 warriors of the theallIed theallied theallied allIed tribes tnbes which he placedat placed at atProctor atProctor atProctor Proctor s disposal the BrItish BrItishleader Britishleader Britishleader leader soon pro\ pro pros pro\ed pro ed proed \ ed himself hlmsel ! such sucha a bungler if 1f not actually a cow coward cowand coward ard and that Tecumseh clearly fore fore- foresaw foresaw foresaw - - saw the ultimate ulhmate triumph tnumph of the theAmericans theAmericans theAmericans theAmericansHe Americans AmericansHe He covered Proctor s retreat retreatbefore retreatbefore retreatbefore before Harnson Harrison s army after afterPerry afterPerry afterPerry Perry s decisive victory on Lake LakeErJe LakeErie LakeErie ErJe Erie until he became dIsgusted dIsgustedwIth disgustedwith disgustedwith wIth the British commander and anddeclmmg anddeclining anddeclining declmmg declining to retreat farther fartherforced fartherforced fartherforced forced Proctor to make a stand standon standon standon on the Thames river nver near the thepresent thepresent thepresent present site of Chatham OntarIo OntarIo1ven OntarioEven OntarioEven 1ven Even : then he was not sure that thatProctor thatProctor thatProctor Proctor w \ would ould fight if he could couldavoId couldavoid couldavoid avoId ItHIs itHis it itHis His low opinion opmlOn of the BritIsh BritIshcommander Britishcommander Britishcommander commander was soon JustIfied justifiedAt At the first attack by Harnson Harrison s stroops stroops stroops troops Proctor fled in m his car carnagp carriage carnagp nagp riage accompanied by his per personal personal personal sonal staff stall a few dragoons and andsome andsome andsome some mounted Indians When the theAmerican theAmerican theAmerican American cavalry broke the Brit BritIsh British British Ish line Proctor s soldiers Imme Immedlately immediately immediately dlately diately threw down their arms armsand armsand armsand and surrendered Within Wlthm five fivemInutes fiveminutes fiveminutes mInutes after the first shot was wasfired wasfired wasfired fired the British force was beat beaten beaten beaten en and most of them were PrlS pt-is pt is PrlSoncrs ptisoners pnsoners pnsonersVery - oncrs oners oncrsVery onersVery Very different was the sItu situa situation situalion a atlOn tlOn tion when the Kentucky cavalry cavalrymen cavalrymen cavalrymen men struck the Indians Before , the battle Tecumseh with a pre presentIment presentiment presentiment sentIment of disaster had told toldhIs toldhis toldhis hIs friends that he would never neverleave neverleave neverleave leave the battlefield ala aine alne e So he hehad hehad hehad had laid aside his ills British gen general general general eral s uniform umform and gone into mto ac achon action action hon tion dressed in m his native cas cos castume costume cosfume cosfumeUnder tume tumeUnder Under his leadership the Indl Indi Indlans Indiarms Indians ans arms stoutly resisted the onslaught onslaughtof of Col Richard M Johnson s smounted smounted smounted mounted men and it was not un untIl until until tIl Tecumseh fell that the sav say savages sayages savages ages at last gave way"ho wayS way wayft "ho ho S ft " ho Killed KJlled Tecumseh9The Tecumseh9 Tecumseh Tecumseh9The ? The slayer of the Shawnee Shawneechleftam Shawneechieftain Shawneechieftain chleftam chieftain is unknown unImown Since Smce there therewas therewas therewas was nothing nothmg m in his dress to dls dis dlstIngulsh distingufsh distinguish tIngulsh tingufsh him from any other warnor war [ - , nor rlor no one on the American sIde sIdeImew sideknew sideknew Imew knew when he fell or whose bul bill bullet billlet bullet let it was that killed him hJm But Butthat Butthat Butthat that did not prevent several severalAmerIcans severalAmericans severalAmericans AmerIcans from claiming clalmmg thathonor thathonor that thathonor honor In fact the questIonWho questionWho question questionWho Who killed lulled Tecumseh7 Tecumseh ' became becamea a famous one m in American Amencan polIh polite polIhcal politecal political cal hIstoryWhen history historyWhen When Col Richard M Johnson Johnsonwas Johnsonwas Johnsonwas was a candidate for vice pres press pressdent president 1 1dent dent in m 1836 his partisans who whohalled whohailed whohailed halled hailed him as The Hero of the theThames theThames theThames Thames claimed that he was wasthe wasthe wasthe the slayer of the Shawnee chIef chIeftaIn chieftarn chieftain taIn tarn because m in those days |