History of Saginaw county, Michigan; together with ... portraits ... and biographies ... History of Michigan ...

54

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.

dent of the United States and return the answer to the Indians as soon
as it was received. Tecumseh then declared that he and his allies were
determined that the old boundary line should continue; and that
if the whites crossed it, it would be at their peril. Gov. Harrison replied that he would be equally plain with him and state that the
President would never allow that the lands on the Wabash were the
property of any other tribes than those who had occupied them
since the white people first came to America; and as the title to
the lands lately purchased was derived from those tribes by a fair
purchase, he might rest assured that the right of the United States
would be supported by the sword. "So be it," was the stern and
haughty reply of the Shawnee chieftan, as he and his braves took
leave of the Governor and wended their way in Indian file to their
camping ground.
Thus ended tie last conference on earth between the chivalrous
Tecumseh and the hero of the battle of Tippecanoe. The bones of
the first lie bleaching on the battle-field of the Thames, and those
of the last in a mausoleum on the banks of the Ohio; each struggled for the mastery of his race, and each no doubt was equally
honest and patriotic in his purposes. The weak yielded to the
strong, the defenseless to the powerful, and the hunting-ground of
the Shawnee is all occupied by his enemy.
Tecumseh, with four of his braves, immediately embarked in a
birch canoe, descended the Wabash, and went on to the South to
unite the tribes of that country in a general system of self-defense
against the encroachment of the whites. His emblem was a disjointed snake, with the motto, "Join or die!" In union alone was
strength.
Before Tecumseh left the Prophet's town at the mouth of the
Tippecanoe river, on his excursion to the South, he had a definite
understanding with his brother and the chieftains of the other tribes
in the Wabash country, that they should preserve perfect peace,
with the whites until his arrangements were completed for a confederacy of the tribes on both sides of the Ohio and on the Mississippi river;, but it seems that while he was in the South engaged
in his work of uniting the tribes of that country some of the Northern tribes showed signs of fight and precipitated Harrison into that
campaign which ended in the battle of Tippecanoe and the total
route of the Indians. Tecumseh, on his return from the South,
learning what had happened, was overcome with chagrin, disappointment and anger, and accused his brother of duplicity and coward