Auction Date:2009 Jun 24 @ 10:00 (UTC-04:00 : AST/EDT)
Location:6270 Este Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio, 45232, United States
2 LsS Cy to Sec. of War, William Eustis, 1810 July 11 and 1810 July 18, one noted as Copy at top, both in same secretarial hand.
The briefest of American Presidents, William Henry Harrison enjoyed a remarkable career before ascending to high office. As governor of the Indiana Territory, Harrison was the man on the spot when the Shawnee visionary Tenskwatawa (known as the Prophet) and his brother Tecumseh, a military leader, nearly succeeded in building a Pan-Indian alliance to fight American dominance in the Old Northwest. After the Treaty of Fort Wayne in Sept. 1809 authorized the sale of nearly 3,000,000 acres to the United States, the Prophet's religious visions became increasingly militant and he and Tecumseh set secretly out to build an armed resistance movement, threatening Harrison that they would ally with the British if the Americans did not negotiate.
The two letters included here were written by Harrison during the frightening summer of 1810, when the Indiana territory seemed to be slipping rapidly into war, and they provide an insider's view of Indian strategies and the U.S. response. In the first letter, Harrison relays word from Vincennes to the Secretary of War in Washington about the hostile combination of Indians against the United States. Although concrete evidence of a conspiracy was slender, Harrison wrote that he was afraid that I shall soon have to announce to you proofs of the hostility of the Prophet & his followers which will be more convincing than all that has been hitherto forwarded... The news that Harrison relayed was chilling: On this day week four canoes passed the Wea Village of Terre Haute, with four or five men in each of the Prophet's followers & were supposed to be coming here…. [a party dispatched by Harrison] learned that one canoe only had come down as low as that, with four Kickapoos -- That they had left their canoe there and had gone to the meeting of the Shakers on Sunday. They returned late in the evening of that day & proceeded up the Wabash about one half mile where they left their canoe, cut a hole in her, and in the night stole five horses. Those fellows were all completely armed, had no skins to trade with, nor did they profess to have any other business than to visit the Shakers. That they were spies from the larger party, I have not the least doubt....
Harrison goes on at length to discuss the alarmed response of local whites, but announced that he forbade pursuit of the horse thieves to prevent bloodshed. I was informed some considerable time ago, he wrote, that this was one of the methods they intended to take to bring on the war: i.e. to send parties to steal Horses & if they were pursued, to kill the persons. He added an ominous, but unfortunately all too true addendum: I fear that some of the friendly Indians will suffer for the crimes of others; indeed, so difficult would it be to distinguish the Tribes, and so little pains will be taken by our people to do it, that I have no other expectation than that of seeing all the Tribes united against us in six months after the hostilities shall have commenced. I fear too, that the Prophet or his friends may have discovered this mode of accomplishing his object.
One week later, Harrison reported on the mission of Col. Vigo to the Miamis, in which he hoped to learn about their loyalty to the U.S. The Miami chiefs are supposed by Mr. Johnson [the Indian agent at Fort Wayne] & Col. Vigo to have preserved their fidelity to the United States -- one only excepted -- a very artful and sensible fellow, who (as a principal chief told Col. Vigo) had entered into all the views of the Prophet, and even that of murdering all those who should stand in opposition to his measures... From the Iaowas, who are still here, notwithstanding my endeavours to get rid of them, I have some management drawn from the information that the sacs & Foxes have actually received the Tomhawk, and were ready to strike whenever the Prophet should give the signal -- a considerable number of Sacs went some time since to see the British Superintendant and on the 1st instant, 50 more passed Chicago for the same destination....
Just over one year later, Harrison led a raid against the Prophet and his supporters at the village of Prophetstown at the confluence of the Tippecanoe and Wabash Rivers. Although the Prophet survived, that victory effectively ended one of the most successful Pan-Indian resistance movements of the nineteenth century.
Outstanding letters with historical content on the later phase of the bitter Indian wars in the Middle Ground of the Midwest. Both letters are written and signed in secretarial hand and are in fine condition.
The Thomas Minckler Collection of Western Americana
Condition:
Auction Location:
6270 Este Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio, 45232, United States
Previewing Details:
Tuesday, June 23, 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday, June 24 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM
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| Tax | Rate | Desc. |
| Ohio |
5.5% |
Ohio State Tax |
Buyer's Premiums:
| From (Incl.) | To (Excl.) | Premium |
| 0.00 |
Infinite |
17.5% |
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