til the signal
was given him by the British authorities. From this Iowa, and others of
his tribe, the governor ascertained that the Prophet had been
soliciting them and other tribes on the Mississippi to join the
confederacy. To these the Prophet stated, in his plausible manner, that
the Americans were ceaselessly and silently invading the Indians, until
those who had suffered most, had resolved to be driven back no farther;
and that it was the duty of the remote tribes upon whose lands the
march of civilization had not yet pressed, to assist those who had
already lost theirs, or in turn a corresponding calamity would follow
upon them. This, the Prophet declared, he was directed by the Great
Spirit of the Indians to tell them, adding, that this Great Spirit
would utterly destroy them, if they ventured to doubt the words of his
chosen Prophet.[A]

[Footnote A: General Harrison's official correspondence--Dawson's
Historical Narrative.]

On the first of June, a Wyandot chief, called Leatherlips, paid the
forfeit of his life on a charge of witchcraft. General Harrison
entertained the opinion that his death was the result of the Prophet's
command, and that the party who acted as executioners went directly
from Tippecanoe, to the banks of the Scioto, where the tragedy was
enacted. Leatherlips was found encamped upon that stream, twelve miles
above Columbus. The six Wyandots who put him to death, were headed, it
is supposed, by the chief Roundhead. An effort was made by some white
men who were present to save the life of the accused, but without
success. A council of two or three hours took place: the accusing party
spoke with warmth and bitterness of feeling: Leatherlips was calm and
dispassionate in his replies. The sentence of death, which had been
previously passed upon him, was reaffirmed. "The prisoner then walked
slowly to his camp, partook of a dinner of jerked venison, washed and
arrayed himself in his best apparel, and afterwards painted his face.
His dress was very rich--his hair gray, and his whole appearance
graceful and commanding." When the hour for the execution had arrived,
Leatherlips shook hands in silence with the spectators. "He then turned
from his wigwam, and with a voice of surpassing strength and melody
commenced the chant of the death song. He was followed closely by the
Wyandot warriors, all timing with their slow and measured march, the
music of his wild and melancholy dirge. The white men were li