G'84 THE GHOST-DANCE RELIGION [eth.ann. U 



that the westward advance of the Americans could be stopped at the 

 Ohio, leaving his people in undisturbed possession of what lay beyond. 

 In this hope he was encouraged by the British officials in Canada, 

 and it is doubtful if the movement would ever have become formid- 

 able if it had not been incited and assisted from across the line. 

 * In the spring of 1807 it was estimated that at Fort Wayne fifteen hun- 

 dred Indians had recently passed that post on their way to visit the 

 prophet, while councils were constantly being held and runners were 

 going from tribe to tribe with pipes and belts of wampum. It was 

 plain that some uncommon movement was going on among them, and 

 it also was evident that the British agents had a hand in keeping up 

 the excitement. The government became alarmed, and the crisis came 

 when an order was sent from the President to Tecumtha at Greenville 

 to remove his party beyond the boundary of 1705 (the Greenville treaty). 

 Trembling with excitement, Tecumtha rose and addressed his followers 

 in a passionate speech, dwelling on the wrongs of the Indians and 

 the continued encroachments of the whites. Then, turning to the mes- 

 senger, he said. '-These lands are ours. No one has a right to remove 

 us, because we were the first owners The Great Spirit above has 

 appointed this place for us, on which to light our tires, and here we will 

 remain. As to boundaries, the Great Spirit above knows no bounda- 

 ries nor will his red children acknowledge any." ( Drake, Tecumseh, 3.) 

 From this time it was understood that the Indians were preparing to 

 make a final stand for the valley of the Ohio. The prophet continued 

 to arouse their enthusiasm by his inspired utterances, while Tecumtha 

 became the general and active organizer of the warriors. At a confer- 

 ence with the governor of Ohio in the autumn of 1807 he fearlessly 

 denied the validity of the former treaties, and declared his intention to 

 resist the further extension of the white settlements on Indian lands. 



The next spring great numbers of Indians came down from the lakes 

 to visit Tecumthaand his brother, who, finding their following-increasing 

 so rapidly, accepted an invitation from the Potawat omi and Kic kapoo, 

 and removed their headquarters to a more central location on the 

 Wabash. The Delaware and Miami, who claimed precedence in that 

 region and who had all along opposed the prophet and Tecumtha, pro- 

 tested against this move, but without effect. The new settlement, 

 which was on the western bank of the river, just below the mouth of 

 the Tippecanoe, was known to the Indians as Kehtipaquononk, ''the 



great clearing," and was i Id and favorite locution with them. It had 



been the site of a large Shawano village which had been destroyed by 

 the Americans in 1791, and some years later the Potawatomi had rebuilt 

 upon tin' same place, to which they now invited the disciples of the 

 new religion. The whites had corrupted the name to Tippecanoe, and 

 it now generally became known as the Prophet's town. 



Nothing else of moment occurred during this year, lint it was learned 

 that Tecumtha contemplated visiting the southern tribes in the mar 



