Tecumseh
Tecumseh was born in 1768, in one of the Shawnee villages in Ohio named Chillicothe, of which there were several, including along the Great Miami River, the Little Miami River, and the Scioto River, site of present day Chillicothe. His father was killed during Lord Dunmore’s War and Tecumseh and his family took shelter with a band of defiant Shawnee who refused to accept the treaty ending that war, denying them the hunting grounds of Kentucky, led by Chief Blackfish. Blackfish’s band captured both Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton during Tecumseh’s stay with him, meaning the young warrior likely knew both frontiersmen.
After the Kentucky militia attacked Blackfish’s village, Tecumseh and his family fled to another Shawnee village, then another, both destroyed by the campaigns of George Rogers Clark. When the war was over Tecumseh, having been driven from several homes by white campaigns, joined the bands of Shawnee who attacked parties of hunters and settlers traveling down river on the Ohio and up its many tributaries. Tecumseh roamed from the Ohio region to Tennessee, and west to the Illinois Country during the years between the end of the American Revolution and the Battle of Fallen Timbers, in which he took part.
By then Tecumseh was the leader of a small but growing band of Shawnee and allied warriors, assisted by his brother, Tenskwatawa (The Prophet). A religious leader with a reputation for harsh treatment of those who opposed him, The Prophet established a village on the Wabash, near its joining the Tippecanoe River, in 1808. The American’s called the settlement Prophetstown, and about 14 different tribal groups were recognized among its inhabitants by 1810. Tecumseh railed at the chiefs to support his confederation for war against the whites while The Prophet foretold events, impressing the chiefs and their warriors.
When the Treaty of Fort Wayne ceded most of the Indian lands in Indiana and Illinois to the United States, Tecumseh and the Prophet resisted. Tecumseh confronted Indiana Territorial Governor William Henry Harrison by resurrecting the ideas presented years earlier by Joseph Brant. He claimed the lands occupied by the Indians were common to all, and could not be sold. Tecumseh continued to recruit additional tribes and warriors to join his confederation. Many speeches have been attributed to him during this time period, most are doubted by modern scholars.
Tecumseh’s confederation was met by Harrison’s army and supporting militia at the Battle of Tippecanoe, a defeat for the Indians which launched Harrison to the presidency years later. Tecumseh’s War became a part of the larger War of 1812, and Tecumseh and his followers were present at the siege of Detroit, a disaster for the Americans. After the Battle of Fort Meigs, Tecumseh’s followers were involved in the massacre of prisoners, for which he placed the blame with the British. Tecumseh was killed at the Battle of the Thames in 1813.