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| Tecumseh |
Tecumseh’s Indian confederacy experienced a bumpy ride during its first few years. Delegations from many tribes came to investigate but left just as quickly. The area around Greenville and on the Wabash could not support so many people. The prophet promised his followers that food would be plentiful. Instead, they starved or were forced to beg for food from the soldiers at Vincennes.
The pan-Indian movement might have
disappeared on its own—then and there—if William Henry Harrison hadn’t
engineered the Fort Wayne Treaty in September of 1809. It gave Tecumseh and
Tenskwatawa the ammunition they needed to grow their confederacy.
The Fort Wayne Treaty snatched nearly three million acres in Illinois
and Indiana from the tribes. The Miami (the rightful owners) opposed the treaty
for several reasons. First, under the Treaty of Greenville signed in 1795, they
were guaranteed the use of the lands around the Wabash. Second, they demanded
that Harrison pay them a fair price per acre rather than purchasing the lands as
one large parcel. Finally, they objected that the tract’s primary residents
were the Weas, and they did not participate in the negotiations. Harrison
steamrolled over their objections and purchased the land for roughly two cents
an acre when the going rate was $2.00.
The move was classic William Henry Harrison. In Mr. Jefferson’s Hammer, Robert M. Owens said
Harrison’s favorite negotiating tactic was including tribes with “little claim
to an area.” They were likelier to sell because they had no stake in the game.
That’s what Harrison did at Fort Wayne. He negotiated the treaty with the
Delaware, Potawatomi, and just one Miami band.
Tecumseh was away when the Fort Wayne Treaty was made. He threatened
to kill all the chiefs involved when he learned about it.