." His words were
severally confirmed by a Wyandot, a Kickapoo, a Potawatomi, an Ottawa,
and a Winnebago, who each openly avowed that their tribes had entered
into the Shawnee confederacy, and that Tecumseh had been chosen as their
leader and chief.

This second council does not seem to have been of great length. In it,
Tecumseh entirely abandoned any attempt at bluster, but firmly and
positively stated to the Governor that he would not consent to the sale
of the Indian lands, and that any attempt to survey them would be met
with resistance. This frank and open statement, elicited a response
equally frank from the Governor. He told Tecumseh that his claims would
be transmitted in full to the President of the United States, and the
reply of the President at once communicated to him when received, but
that he was convinced that the President would never admit "that the
lands on the Wabash, were the property of any other tribes, than those
who had occupied and lived upon them," and as these lands had been
fairly and openly purchased at Fort Wayne, that the right of the United
States would be "supported by the sword." With these words the interview
terminated.

That night the Governor reflected. If the words of Tecumseh as uttered
in council, were sincere and genuine, they amounted to an open
declaration of war--the government must either entirely recede from the
ground it had taken, and restore the lands, or prepare for the coming
conflict. Concerning this issue there must be no doubt. The Governor
therefore resolved to repair to the headquarters of Tecumseh in person,
and there, removed from the atmosphere of a council, hold private
intercourse with the chieftain and read his intentions. He had hit upon
this expedient once before in the proceedings at Fort Wayne, and the
experiment had proven successful. Accordingly, the following morning,
throwing aside all considerations of personal danger, he suddenly
appeared at the tent of Tecumseh, accompanied only by the interpreter
Barron. He was most politely received. Proceeding at once to the main
point, he asked the chief if the declarations he had made in his two
public interviews were his real sentiments. Tecumseh answered that they
certainly were; that he had no grievance against the United States
except the matter as to the purchase of the Indian lands, and that he
would go to war with very great reluctance; that if Harrison would
prevail upon the President to give back