the
others, was the dam he was erecting to resist this mighty water. He
stated further, that he should be reluctantly drawn into a war with the
United States; and that if he, the governor, would induce the President
to give up the lands lately purchased, and agree never to make another
treaty without the consent of all the tribes, he would be their
faithful ally and assist them in the war, which he knew was about to
take place with England; that he preferred being the ally of the
Seventeen Fires, but if they did not comply with his request, he would
be compelled to unite with the British. The governor replied, that he
would make known his views to the President, but that there was no
probability of their being agreed to. "Well," said Tecumseh, "as the
great chief is to determine the matter, I hope the Great Spirit will
put sense enough into his head to induce him to give up this land: it
is true, he is so far off he will not be injured by the war; he may sit
still in his town and drink his wine, whilst you and I will have to
fight it out." This prophecy, it will be seen, was literally fulfilled;
and the great chieftain who uttered it, attested that fulfilment with
his blood. The governor, in conclusion, proposed to Tecumseh, that in
the event of hostilities between the Indians and the United States, he
should use his influence to put an end to the cruel mode of warfare
which the Indians were accustomed to wage upon women and children, or
upon prisoners. To this he cheerfully assented; and, it is due to the
memory of Tecumseh to add, that he faithfully kept his promise down to
the period of his death.[A]

[Footnote A: In Marshall's History of Kentucky, vol. 2. p. 482, there
is a speech quoted as having been delivered by Tecumseh at this
council. We are authorised, on the best authority, to say that it is a
sheer fabrication. No such speech was delivered by him at the council.]

Whether in this council Tecumseh really meditated treachery or only
intended to intimidate the governor, must remain a matter of
conjecture. If the former, his force of four hundred well armed
warriors was sufficient to have murdered the inhabitants and sacked the
town, which at that time did not contain more than one thousand
persons, including women and children. When in the progress of the
conference, he and his forty followers sprung to their arms, there
would have been, in all probability, a corresponding movement with the
remainder of his