earth, than the President would suffer his people to
be murdered with impunity; and that he would put his warriors in
petticoats, sooner than he would give up a country which he had fairly
acquired from the rightful owners. Here the council terminated. In a
day or two afterwards, attended by twenty warriors, Tecumseh set off
for the south, on a visit to the Creeks and Choctaws. The governor was
at a loss to determine the object of Tecumseh, in taking with him to
Vincennes, so large a body of his followers. The spies said that he
intended to demand a retrocession of the late purchase, and if it was
not obtained, to seize some of the chiefs who were active in making the
treaty, in presence of the governor, and put them to death; and in case
of his interference, to have subjected him to the same fate. Many of
the neutral Indians entertained the opinion that he meditated an attack
upon Vincennes. If such was the case, his plan was probably changed by
observing the vigilance of governor Harrison and the display of seven
or eight hundred men under arms. It is questionable, however, we think,
whether Tecumseh really meditated violence at this time. He probably
wished to impress the whites with an idea of his strength, and at the
same time gratify his ambition of moving, as a great chieftain, at the
head of a numerous retinue of warriors.

The day after the close of this council, the governor wrote to the War
Department. The following is a part of his communication.

"My letter of yesterday will inform you of the arrival and departure of
Tecumseh from this place, and of the route which he has taken. There
can be no doubt his object is to excite the southern Indians to war
against us. His mother was of the Creek nation, and he builds much upon
that circumstance towards forwarding his views. I do not think there is
any danger of further hostility until he returns: and his absence
affords a most favorable opportunity for breaking up his confederacy,
and I have some expectations of being able to accomplish it without a
recourse to actual hostility. Tecumseh assigned the next spring as the
period of his return. I am informed, however, that he will be back in
three months. There is a Potawatamie chief here, who says he was
present when the message from the British agent was delivered to the
Prophet, telling him that the time had arrived for taking up arms, and
inviting him to send a party to Malden, to receive the necessary
supplie