sending
his heralds with it, in every direction. The Wyandots soon afterwards
made a visit to Tippecanoe; and in passing thither, had a conference
with some of the Miami chiefs, to whom they showed the great belt, and
charged them with having joined the whites in opposition to their red
brethren. The Miamis at length concluded to join in a visit to the
Prophet, and also invited the Weas to join with them.

About this time, the governor was informed by an aged Piankishaw,
friendly to the United States, that the Prophet had actually formed a
plan for destroying the citizens of Vincennes by a general massacre;
and that he boasted that he would walk in the footsteps of the great
Pontiac. From another source the governor learned that there were
probably three hundred Indians within thirty miles of the Prophet's
quarters; and that although their proceedings were conducted with great
secrecy, it had been discovered that they were determined to stop the
United States' surveyors from running any lines west of the Wabash.
Other evidences of approaching hostilities were not wanting. The
Prophet, and the Kickapoos who were at his village, refused to accept
the salt which had been sent up to them as a part of their annuities,
and after it had been put upon the shore, the carriers were not only
required to replace it in their boat, but whilst doing so, were treated
with rudeness, and ordered to take the salt back to Vincennes. They
were Frenchmen, or in all probability they would have been treated
still more harshly.[A]

[Footnote A: Governor Harrison's letters to the War Department.]

In the early part of July, governor Harrison received a letter from
John Johnston, Indian agent at fort Wayne, in which he says:

"A person just arrived, who it appears has lost himself in his route to
Vincennes, affords me an opportunity of announcing to you my return to
this fort. I was delayed on my journey in attending to the
transportation of the public goods; and on my arrival in the state of
Ohio, I had learned that the Prophet's brother had lately been at work
among the Shawanoes, on the Auglaize; and, among other things, had
burned your letter delivered to the chiefs at this place last fall. I
accordingly took Wapakonetta in my route home, assembled the chiefs,
and demanded the reason why they had suffered such an improper act to
be committed at their door. They disavowed all agency in the
transaction, and their entire disapprobation of th