Indians Become Restless

             “For the last ten or twelve weeks I have been constantly engaged in receiving visits from the Chiefs of most of the Indian nations which inhabit this part of the Territory.  They all profess and I believe that most of them feel a friendship for the United States - but they make heavy complaints of ill treatment on the part of our Citizens.  They say that their people have been killed - their lands settled on - their game wantonly destroyed - & their young men made drunk & cheated of the peltries which formerly procured them necessary articles of Cloathing, arms and amuniton to hunt with.  Of the truth of all these charges I am well convinced. . . . All these Injuries the Indians have hitherto borne with astonishing patience but although they discover no disposition to make war upon the United States at present - I am confident that most of the tribes would eagerly seize any favorable opportunity for that purpose - & should the United States be at war with any of the European nations who are known to the Indians there would probably be a combination of nine tenths of the northern Tribes against us.”  From a letter by Governor William Henry Harrison to the Secretary of War on July 15, 1801.
            By 1800, it was decided that the increase in population in the eastern section of the Northwest Territory warranted the separation of that area in preparation for becoming the state of Ohio.  The remainder of the Northwest Territory was to be known henceforth as the Indiana Territory; it consisted of present-day Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and the eastern section of Minnesota.
            In all of this vast area there was a non-Indian population of less than 6,000.  The principal settlements included Kaskaskia, Cahokia, Michilimackinac, Green Bay, Prairie de Chien, and Vincennes, the latter being the capitol.  Most of these settlers were of French descent.
            The Indian population in this region, though never accurately counted, greatly outnumbered the white.  Aside from the small tracts ceded to the Unites States following General Anthony Wayne’s victory at Fallen Timbers in 1794, the remainder of the land was retained for use by the tribes.
            William Henry Harrison, by virtue of his military and political experience in the region, was a logical choice for the position of Governor of the new Indiana Territory.  From the beginning of his appointment in 1800, a large portion of Harrison’s time was involved in Indian affairs.
            Harrison found himself placed in a difficult position, one in which it would be impossible to satisfy everyone.  President Thomas Jefferson and the American public wanted more land quickly ceded to the United States.  The Indians, of course, opposed further land cessions.  An astute politician, Harrison realized his continuation in office depended ultimately on carrying out the wishes of the national administration.
            Traditionally, Indians of this region had planted some crops to supplement their hunting.  Jefferson favored the fostering of more intensive agricultural pursuits among the tribes in order to encourage them to place less reliance on hunting.  As he wrote to Harrison, “When they withdraw themselves to the culture of a small piece of land, they will perceive how useless to them are their extensive forests, and will be willing to pare them off from time to time in exchange for necessaries for their farms & families.”  Although some of the more peaceful chiefs favored adopting the white man’s farming practices, most of the younger warriors rejected the idea.
            Beginning in 1802, Harrison concluded a series of treaties that gained large tracts of thousands of square miles from the Indians.  The cumulative effect of all these treaties was to cause increased unrest among the tribes.
            The Indian culture in this region, under constant pressure for change since the advent of the Europeans a century and a half earlier, was now approaching a point of crisis.  Greatly dependent on trading goods and annuities, the Indians saw their independence disappearing.  To make matters worse, the traditional male occupation of warrior and hunter was seriously threatened by the increasing power of the United States and the onrushing tide of settlement.
            These problems were compounded by the evils of alcoholism rampant among many of the tribes.  In 1801, Harrison complained to the Secretary of War that intoxicated Indians were killing each other in the streets of Vincennes.  Although many of the Indian leaders protested the effects of this evil on their people, the government was unable to effectively regulate the liquor traffic.
            A split occurred in each tribe, as some leaders counseled accepting the inevitable overthrow of the traditional Indian culture, while others were determined to resist.  Harrison succeeded in his treaty-making partly by his ability to win the former faction to his side through conferring recognition and gifts.  Treaties signed by these leaders, however, were frequently repudiated by the more warlike faction.
            There also was a geographical division, with those tribes in present-day Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin under less immediate pressure than the tribes remaining in what is now Indiana and western Ohio.  In fact, many of the more western tribes seemed preoccupied during this period with carrying out raids against the Osage Indians across the Mississippi River.
            By 1805, in the midst of all this turmoil, a Shawnee religious leader known as The Prophet began gaining a strong following among the Indians by calling for a return to the old way of life and a rejection of American influence.  His efforts soon would serve to further heighten tensions north of the Ohio River.