Native Americans
Tecumseh
1768-1813

Tecumseh (meaning panther lying in wait) was the widely admired warrior, orator and leader of the Shawnee in the Old Northwest. He was born in western Ohio. His father was killed at the Battle of Point Pleasant in 1774.

Tecumseh developed his battle skills in raids against American settlers in Kentucky and Tennessee, then saw action at the Battle of Fallen Timbers (1794). Bitterly disappointed by his people's plight, Tecumseh refused to sign the Treaty of Greenville in 1795 and began gathering other discontented natives around him.

A younger brother experienced a series of visions and came to be known as The Prophet, urging his people to embrace traditional ways and reject white culture. Tecumseh melded his brother's message with his own political agenda; his aim was to unite native tribes and rid ancestral lands of white occupation.

In 1811, while Tecumseh was traveling in the South seeking aid from the Creeks, The Prophet was defeated at the Battle of Tippecanoe by forces under William Henry Harrison, governor of the Indiana Territory. Shawnee homes and food supplies were totally destroyed.

Tecumseh joined the British in the War of 1812 and followed them as they were pushed back into Canada. He was killed by American forces at the Battle of the Thames in 1813.

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