Prophet provides new vision

            “. . . who is this pretended prophet who dares to speak in the name of the Great Creator?  Examine him.  Is he more wise or virtuous than you are yourselves, that he should be selected to convey to you the orders of your God?  Demand of him some proofs at least of his being the messenger of the Deity.  If God has really employed him he has doubtless authorized him to perform some miracles, that he may be known and received as a prophet.  If he is really a prophet, ask of him to cause the sun to stand still--the moon to alter its course--the rivers to cease to flow--or the dead to rise from their graves.  If he does these things, you may then believe that he has been sent from God.  He tells you that the Great Spirit commands you to punish with death those who deal in magic, and that he is authorized to point them out Wretched delusion! . .
            “No longer be imposed upon by the arts of an impostor.  Drive him from your town, and let peace and harmony once more prevail amongst you.”  From a message Governor William Henry Harrison to the Delaware Indians early in 1806.
            In the last article, Governor William Henry Harrison’s early dealings with the tribes in the Indiana Territory during the period 1800-1805 were described.  This territory included the vast region encompassed by the present-day states of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota.  With each year that passed, the situation of the Indians became more critical.  Heavily dependent on trading goods and annuities, they were being increasingly forced to abandon their traditional ways.
            By 1805, a Shawnee medicine man living at Greenville in western Ohio near the boundary with the Indiana Territory was attracting a following by preaching a new message among Indians desperate for a course of action.  Denouncing the use of alcohol, the Prophet urged his followers to stop intertribal fighting and return to the food, clothing, implements and weapons of the old days.  While the British, French and Spanish could be considered friends, he admonished the Indians to avoid contact with the land-hungry Americans.
            Although emphasizing traditional Shawnee religious beliefs, the Prophet also introduced new rituals and ceremonies.  He indicated that those Indians opposed to his teachings were to be suspected of witchcraft.
            Soon large numbers of warriors from several tribes were traveling to Greenville to see the Prophet.  Many of these Indians then returned to their villages to spread the new religion and message.
Among the first Indians caught up in the new fervor were a portion of the Delawares living in present-day Indiana.  Determined to rid their group of members suspected of being witches, the Delawares invited the prophet to visit their village to assist them in this matter.  Following his arrival in March 1806, four Delawares that were Christian converts and closely associated with the Americans were accused of witchcraft and killed by fellow tribesmen.
            Learning of these deaths, Harrison sent the message quoted above to the Delawares denouncing the Prophet and suggesting that the medicine man should be made to prove his supernatural powers.
            At about this time, the Prophet learned of the impending eclipse of the sun which American astronomers knew would take place on June 16, 1806.  Spreading the word among his followers that he would cause the sun to disappear in midday, the Prophet caused astonishment and awe when his prediction came true.
            Word of the prophet’s teachings now spread far and wide.  Soon Indians from the Delaware, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Wyandot, Sac, Fox, Winnebago, Menominee, Ottawa and Chippewa tribes were numbered among his disciples.  As a result, the summer of 1807 found great throng of Indians temporarily gathered at Greenville.  The influx of these followers caused a shortage of food, a problem inherent in most large-scale gatherings of Indians that lasted for any length of time.
            The sudden increase of Indian travelers alarmed settlers in outlying areas and officials at the widely scattered military posts of Detroit, Michilimackinac (in the straits between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan), Fort Wayne and Vincennes.  Harrison, at the latter location, had been receiving particularly alarming reports from William Wells, the Indian Agent at Fort Wayne.  Harrison was convinced, however, that the British in Canada were instigating the new unrest among the Indians and the Prophet was not more than a tool of the English.
            In reality, the British were as mystified by these developments as the Americans.  Anticipating that war with the United States was likely due to deteriorating relations between the two countries, they were anxious to speak with the Prophet in hopes of utilizing this new movement to their advantage.
            The murder of several settlers in western Ohio further heightened tensions.  Fearing an Indian War, some pioneers moved to more settled areas.
            In April 1808, the Prophet and those of his followers that had been at Greenville during the winter migrated westward from Ohio to the Tippecanoe River in present-day north-western Indiana.  There were two reasons for this move: first, Greenville was located too close to the advancing American frontier; second, the Tippecanoe area would put the Prophet nearer the tribes in the western Great Lakes region that gave him the greatest support.
            Ironically, some of the Prophet’s own Shawnee tribe rejected his teachings, as did significant segments of the other more eastern tribes.  The most prominent leader opposing the prophet was Little Turtle, the great Miami war chief of earlier days, who now often cooperated with the Americans.  Feeling confident of his own power, the Prophet ignored Little Turtle’s protests in his move to the Tippecanoe River.
            Harrison viewed this development with dismay.  On May 19, 1808, he wrote the Secretary of War regarding the Prophet as follows: “The Shawnese imposter has acquired such an ascendency over the minds of the Indians that there can be little doubt of their pursuing any course which he may dictate to them, and that his views are decidedly hostile to the United States is but too evident.”