Fort Rowdy Gathering

October 4th and 5th, 2008
at the Community Park, Covington Ohio

History

General "Mad" Anthony Wayne ~ Treaty of Greenville ~Tecumseh

Tecumseh (Shooting Star) of the Shawnee.

Tecumseh (Shooting Star) of the Shawnee was born in March 1768, on the Mad River near the present-day city of Springfield, Ohio. He was a brother to Tenskwatawa (The Shawnee Prophet).

Tecumseh took part in the war of retaliation in 1780, waged because of the murder of Chief Cornstalk as he was attempting to negotiate with white men. A brave, skilled fighter, Tecumseh was known for his opposition to unnecessary, arbitrary killing. He led several raids against the encroaching white settlers, often with his Creek and Cherokee neighbors. Tecumseh participated in the Battle of Fallen Timbers, but refused to sign the Treaty of Greenville in 1795.

With his brother, a respected preacher of the Shawnee people, Tecumseh travelled among the tribes of the region to set forth a doctrine that the lands of the Northwest Territory belonged to a single Indian Nation and that negotiated borders with individual tribes were invalid.

He and his brother established a village in northern Indiana, a village that became known as Prophet's Town. They encouraged their people to return to traditional ways, to cultivate the land and to avoid liquor.

On Nov. 6, 1811, Northwest Territory Governor William Henry Harrison engaged Native American tribes under the leadersip of Tenskwatawa while Tecumseh was travelling. The village was destroyed, and the defeat left many tribes disillusioned with the promise of victory.

The unity of the Native Americans was further diminished as they were caught between the British and American forces at the outbreak of the War of 1812. Tecumseh and many others allied with the British. The British commissioned Tecumseh as a brigadier general.

Native Americans under Tecumseh took a stand at the Battle of the Thames on Oct. 5, 1813, where Tecumseh and his dreams were killed. Tecumseh is buried on Walpole Island, Ontario, Canada.

"So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours.
Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.
Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people.
Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and grovel to none. When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision. When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way.
Sing your death song and die like a hero going home."
-Tecumseh