force ready to leave. Then
Harrison sent messengers to the Prophet demanding that the Indians
should return stolen horses to their owners, and surrender Indians who
had murdered white men. He also demanded that the Winnebagoes,
Pottawottomies and Kickapoos who were at Tippecanoe should return to
their tribes. Without waiting for a reply or appointing a time or place
where the Prophet's answer might find him, Harrison began his march on
Tippecanoe. Through the disputed land the armed forces marched; on, on,
into the undisputed territory of the Indians.

Still they met with no opposition. Not an Indian was seen until November
the sixth, when the troops were within eleven miles of Tippecanoe. And
although many of them were seen from that time on, they could not be
tempted to any greater indiscretion than the making of threatening signs
in response to the provoking remarks of the interpreters. When within
two miles of Tippecanoe, Harrison found himself and his army in a
dangerous pass that offered the Indians a most inviting chance for an
ambush. But he was not molested.

When the troops were safe in the open country once more, Harrison held a
conference with his officers. All were eager to advance at once and
attack the town. They held that if there was any question about the
right or the necessity of an attack it should have been decided before
they started; now that they had arrived at the stronghold of the Indians
there was only one safe course, and that was immediate attack.

Perhaps the circumstances of the march had persuaded Harrison of the
sincerity of the Indians' plan for peace, and he felt that after all the
affair might be settled without bloodshed. At any rate, he was most
reluctant to comply with the wishes of his aids. But at last yielding to
their urgency he gave the order to advance and storm the town. Scarcely
had he done so, however, before he was turned from his purpose by the
arrival of messengers from the Prophet begging that the difficulties be
settled without a battle. Harrison sent back word that he had no
intention of making an attack unless the Prophet refused to concede to
his demands. He consented to suspend hostilities for the night and give
Tenskwatawa a hearing in the morning.

Greatly against the will of his officers, who had no faith in the
Indians' professions of friendliness and saw that every hour of delay
might be put to good use by the Prophet, Harrison encamped for the
night. He