Though thwarted on the St. Joseph and among the Shawnees, it was plain that a strict espionage would have to be maintained over the proceedings at the Prophet's Town, and especially over the Prophet himself. The heart of this priest was filled with plots of assassination and murder. Grosble, an old Indian friend of the Governor, informed him that the Prophet had at one time planned a wholesale slaughter at Vincennes, and that it had been arranged that the Prophet should enter the Governor's house with ten or twelve of his followers and slay him. To the Prophet may be attributed most of the horse-stealing expeditions, the insults to messengers and agents, and the plans for the murder of the older Indian chiefs. While Tecumseh either countenanced these transactions, or else was unable to control them, he seems, with strange sagacity for a savage, to have at all times realized that the assassination of Harrison, the stealing of a few horses, or the slaughter of a few white men on the border, would really never accomplish anything save to intensify the feeling between the races. While never comprehending the great forces of civilization and of the government which he was resisting, he seems to have steadily kept in mind that a handful of naked savages at the Prophet's Town would avail him nothing; that in order to effectively strike he must have back of him a substantial body of warriors recruited from all the confederated tribes, well victualled, armed and equipped, and equal in number to the armies of his adversary. He knew the Indian character well enough to know that they would never long resist a superior force. If he could keep his rash and impulsive brother in leash long enough to form a permanent and powerful league, then he had hopes of ultimate success. But there was the great danger, in fact, the very peril that finally engulfed him. The Prophet with that fatal egotism of the fanatic, vainly imagined that he was more than a match for the Governor, and in the absence of his brother, let his vindictive hate and malice destroy the last dream of empire.
In the latter part of the month of June, Harrison sent Dubois and Brouillette to the Prophet's Town to take note of what was going on. They reported that while the tribes of the Mississinewa, the Weas and Kickapoos were living in expectation of trouble, that there was no immediate danger, as the defection of the tribes at the St. Joseph had upset the plans of the brothers. Dubois requested the Prophet to state the grounds of his complaint, if he had any, against the United States. The Prophet answered in the language of Brant, that the Indians had been cheated of their lands and that no sale was good unless made by all the tribes. On the fourth of July, four canoes, filled with the Prophet's followers, passed the Wea village at Terre Haute, and Harrison sent out the militia to discover what had become of them. One of these canoes came down the river to a Shaker settlement sixteen miles above Vincennes. The Indians there attended meeting on Sunday, the Prophet professing to believe in the Shaker creed, (without, however, practicing celibacy), and then finished the day's proceedings by stealing five horses. They made no attempt to cover their tracks, but the Governor stopped any pursuit, as he "had been informed some time before, that one of their plans to bring on the war, was to send out parties to steal horses, and, if they were pursued, to kill their pursuers." This was plainly the work of the Prophet. More alarming stories came in. It was said that the Sacs and Foxes were awaiting the signal from the Prophet to take up arms; that a party of them had visited the British superintendent, and that Elliott had said to a Miami at Maiden "My son, keep your eyes fixed on me—my tomahawk is now up—be you ready, but do not strike till I give the signal." Harrison in the light of all these events, determined to send Barron, his trusted interpreter, to the Prophet's Town. The reception of Barron is thus dramatically related; "He was first conducted ceremoniously to the place where the Prophet, surrounded by a number of Indians, was seated. Here he was left standing at a distance of about ten feet from the Indian prophet. 'He looked at me,' said Barron, 'for several minutes, without speaking or making any sign of recognition, although he knew me well. At last he spoke, apparently in anger. 'For what purpose do you come here?' said he, 'Brouillette was here; he was a spy. Dubois was here; he was a spy. There is your grave; look on it!' The Prophet then pointed to the ground near the spot where I stood."
No harm was done him, however. Tecumseh interceded and the Governor's messenger was finally received with respect. Barron delivered a speech of Harrison's to the Prophet in the presence of Tecumseh. The purport of this address was, that while the Governor said he believed that there had been an attempt to raise the tomahawk, that the old chain of friendship between the Indians and whites might still be renewed; that there were two roads open, one leading to peace, and the other to misery and ruin; that it was useless to make war against the Seventeen Fires, as their blue-coats were more numerous than the sands of the Wabash; that if complaint was made as to the purchase of the Indian lands, that the Governor was willing to send the principal chiefs to Washington to make this complaint to the President in person; that everything necessary for the journey should be prepared and a safe return guaranteed.
On this visit Barron held much personal converse with Tecumseh and lodged with him in a cabin. He professed to be much pleased with Harrison's speech, observing that he had not seen him since he was a young man seated at the side of General Wayne. He disclaimed any intention of trying to make war, but said that it would be impossible to remain on friendly terms with the United States unless they abandoned the idea of trying to make settlements farther to the north and west, and unless they acknowledged the principle that all the lands were held by the tribes in common. Said he: "The Great Spirit gave this great island to his red children; he placed the whites on the other side of the big water; they were not contented with their own, but came to take ours from us. They have driven us from the sea to the lakes, we can go no further. They have taken upon themselves to say this tract belongs to the Miamis, this to the Delawares, and so on, but the Great Spirit intended it as the common property of all the tribes, nor can it be sold without the consent of all. Our father tells us, that we have no business upon the Wabash, the land belongs to other tribes, but the Great Spirit ordered us to come here and here we shall stay."
Tecumseh now resolved on that famous meeting with the Governor at Vincennes. Harrison had long known that there were those in his midst who were inimical to his plans and who had opposed his purpose of the fall before, but he did not learn until afterwards the full extent of their treachery. It seems that Tecumseh had been given to understand that about half of the population of Vincennes were friendly to his cause. An American had visited him during the winter of 1809-10 who informed him that Harrison had no authority whatever from the government to make the purchase; that the Governor had only two years more to remain in office, and that if Tecumseh could prevail upon the Indians to refuse their annuities under the treaty until the Governor "was displaced, as he would be, and a good man appointed as his successor, he would restore to the Indians all the lands purchased from them." How far these representations may have deceived Tecumseh into the belief that he was dealing with a man who was tottering to the fall, is not certainly known. He determined at any rate, to make a show of force. If the Governor was a weakling who sat insecurely in his seat, and was fearful of public clamor, here was an opportunity to display that fact. As he remarked to Barron, he had not seen the Governor since he was "a very young man," sitting at the side of General Wayne. The Governor was younger in years than Tecumseh, and no doubt the Shawnee was disposed to regard him with contempt. To appear suddenly at the capital of the white man with a band of armed warriors; to openly and haughtily declare his purpose of resisting the pretensions of the Governor and to pour out his insolence upon the heads of the chieftains who had dared to sell the lands—what a grand culmination of all his plans this would be, if it had the desired effect! There was nothing to lose, everything to gain. He resolved to try it. Accordingly, on the 12th day of August, there swept down the river to Fort Knox, eighty canoes, filled with naked savages painted in the most terrific manner. All of them were armed and ready for attack. At their head was the great war chief, described by Major George R. Floyd, commandant at the fort, as "about six feet high, straight, with large, fine features, and altogether a daring, bold looking fellow." The conference with the Governor was appointed for the morrow.
CHAPTER XXI
THE COUNCIL AT VINCENNES
—The dramatic meeting between Harrison and Tecumseh.—Tecumseh announces his doctrine of the common ownership of the Indian lands.