that Tecumseh was the youngest
or last born of the three; that "this event so extraordinary among the
Indian tribes, with whom a double birth is quite uncommon, struck the
mind of the people as supernatural, and marked him and his brothers with
the prestige of future greatness--that the Great Spirit would direct
them to the achievement of something great." The date of this
extraordinary event is given by most authors as 1768, making Tecumseh
and the Prophet some five years the seniors of General Harrison. "They
were born in a cabin or hut, constructed of round saplings chinked with
sticks and clay, near the mouth of Stillwater, on the upper part of its
junction with the Great Miami, then a pleasant plateau of land, with a
field of corn not subject to overflow."

Of the early life of the Prophet not much is known. "According to one
account he was noted in his earlier years for stupidity and
intoxication; but one day, while lighting his pipe in his cabin, he fell
back apparently lifeless and remained in that condition until his
friends had assembled for the funeral, when he revived from his trance,
quieted their alarm, and announced that he had been conducted to the
spirit world." As an orator, he is said to have been even more powerful
than Tecumseh himself, and his great influence in after years among the
various tribes would seem to bear that statement out. However, he was
boastful, arrogant, at times cruel, and never enjoyed the reputation for
honesty and integrity that his more distinguished brother did. In
personal appearance he was not prepossessing. He had lost one eye,
"which defect he concealed by wearing a dark veil or handkerchief over
the disfigured organ." It has been related that he was dominated to some
extent by his wife, who was regarded by the squaws at the Prophet's Town
as a queen.

Whole nations are at times moved with a sort of religious fervor or
frenzy which extends to all ranks and stations. During these periods
strange mental phenomena are at times apparent, great social and
political movements are inaugurated, and the whole complexion of affairs
seems to undergo a rapid and sometimes radical change. Such a movement
occurred among the Indian tribes of Ohio and those along the Wabash
about the beginning of the year 1806. At this time a part of the
scattered and broken remnants of the Shawnee tribe had been gathered
together under the Prophet and Tecumseh at Greenville, Ohio. In November
of the