ing of the same day, the Governor held another extended
conference with the Miami chiefs, and explained to them that the British
were to blame for all their troubles. His remarks were prophetic. He
said: "In case of a war with the latter (the Americans), the English
knew that they were unable to defend Canada with their own force; they
were therefore desirous of interposing the Indians between them and
danger." The death of Tecumseh in the British ranks was part of the
fulfillment of this prediction.

All the conferences proved in vain. On the twenty-seventh, Silver Heels,
a Miami chief, was won over and spoke in favor of the treaty, and
Harrison succeeded on the twenty-eighth in reconciling the Miamis and
Potawatomi, but in full council on the twenty-ninth, The Owl, a Miami
chief, flatly refused to sell an acre; made a bitter and sarcastic
speech, and among other things said; "You remember the time when we
first took each other by the hand at Greenville. You there told us where
the line would be between us. You told us to love our women and children
and to take care of our lands. You told us that the Spanish had a great
deal of money, the English, and some of your people likewise, but that
we should not sell our lands to any of them. In consequence of which
last fall we put our hands upon our hearts and determined not to sell
our lands." Harrison answered in a speech of two hours length, and ended
by saying, "that he was tired of waiting and that on the next day he
would submit to them the form of a treaty which he wished them to sign
and if they would not agree to it he would extinguish the council
fire."

We now come to a circumstance which refutes much that Tecumseh
afterwards claimed. In his famous meeting with the Governor at Vincennes
in August, 1810, and speaking of the treaty of 1809, he said: "Brother,
this land that was sold, and the goods that were given for it were only
done by a few. The treaty was afterwards brought here, and the Weas were
induced to give their consent because of their small numbers. The treaty
at Fort Wayne was made through the threats of Winnemac; but in the
future we are prepared to punish those chiefs who may come forward to
propose to sell the land." The record of the official proceedings, made
at the time, show, however, that immediately upon the close of
Harrison's last speech of September twenty-ninth, that Winamac arose to
reply, but upon noting that fact all the Mississinewa Mi