history of all the
treaties which had been made by the governor and the Indian tribes; and
concluded with the remark, that he had been told that the Miami chiefs
had been forced by the Potawatamies to accede to the treaty of fort
Wayne; and that it would be proper to institute enquiries to find out
the person who had held the tomahawk over their heads, and punish him.
This statement was immediately contradicted by the governor, and also
by the Miami chiefs who were present. Anxious to bring the conference
to a close, the governor then told Tecumseh that by delivering up the
two Potawatamies who had murdered the four white men on the Missouri,
last fall, he would at once attest the sincerity of his professions of
friendship to the United States, and his desire to preserve peace. His
reply was evasive, but developed very clearly his designs. After much
trouble and difficulty he had induced, he said, all the northern tribes
to unite, and place themselves under his direction; that the white
people were unnecessarily alarmed at his measures, which really meant
nothing but peace; that the United States had set him the example of
forming a strict union amongst all the Fires that compose their
confederacy; that the Indians did not complain of it, nor should his
white brothers complain of him for doing the same thing in regard to
the Indian tribes; that so soon as the council was over, he was to set
out on a visit to the southern tribes, to prevail upon them to unite
with those of the north. As to the murderers, they were not at his
town, and if they were, he could not deliver them up; that they ought
to be forgiven, as well as those who had committed some murders in
Illinois; that he had set the whites an example of the forgiveness of
injuries which they ought to follow. In reply to an enquiry on the
subject, he said he hoped no attempt would be made to settle the new
purchase, before his return next spring; that a great number of Indians
were coming to settle at Tippecanoe in the autumn, and they would need
that tract as a hunting ground, and if they did no further injury, they
might kill the cattle and hogs of the white people, which would create
disturbances; that he wished every thing to remain in its present
situation until his return, when he would visit the President, and
settle all difficulties with him. The governor made a brief reply,
saying, that the moon which they beheld (it was then night) would
sooner fall to the