d even taken the tomahawks
out of the hands of those who were ready to march against the Osages. To
my inquiry whether he was determined to prevent the settlement of the
New Purchase, he replied that he hoped no attempt would be made to
settle until his return next spring. That a great number of Indians were
coming to settle at his town this fall, and who must occupy 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 produce
disturbance. That he wished every thing to remain in its present
situation until his return--our settlements not to progress further--and
no revenge sought for any injury that had been or should be received by
the white people until his return--that he would then go and see the
President and settle everything with him. That the affairs of all the
tribes in this quarter were in his hands and that nothing could be done
without him--that he would dispatch messengers in every direction to
prevent them from doing any more mischief--that he had made full
atonement for the murders which had been committed by the wampum which
he delivered."

The reply of the Governor was short and pithy. It was now evening and
the moon was shining. He told the assembled tribesmen that the moon
which they beheld would sooner fall to the 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." The meeting was
then broken up.

We have said that the promptitude and foresight of the Governor probably
averted a massacre. It was the opinion of all the neutral Indians on the
ground that Tecumseh meditated a stroke. His manner throughout the
council was embarrassed, and it was evident to all that the speech he
actually delivered was not the one he had prepared for the occasion. If
he had found the Governor unprepared and the town defenseless, his
fierce hatred of the paleface and his boundless ambition as a warrior,
would probably have prompted him to resort to violence, for it is a well
known fact, observed by all Indian writers, that a savage will always
act upon the advantage of the moment, regardless of future consequences.
Besides, it is probable that Tecumseh now felt himself powerful enough
to deal a telling blow. Many accessions had been made to his confederacy
and the daring