ffering among the Indians was so great because of the ceaseless
war they had carried on against the white people, that in 1795 many of
the tribes were ready to accept the terms of peace offered by the United
States government.

Accordingly, in June a treaty was made at Greenville, Ohio. The Indians
promised to give up all claim to many thousand acres of land in the
Northwest Territory, to live at peace with the white settlers occupying
the land, to notify them of the hostile plans of other tribes, to
surrender whatever prisoners they had, to give up evil doers for trial,
to protect travelers and traders, and to recognize no "father" but the
President of the United States.

In return for all this the national government pledged itself to give
the Indians a yearly "present" of food, blankets, powder, and other
necessities, to respect the boundary lines and prevent settlers from
hunting or intruding on Indian lands, and to punish white men who were
found guilty of robbing or murdering Indians.

Tecumseh would not attend the council at which the treaty was made. Much
as he felt the need of peace he was unwilling to pay for it a price
which he thought the white man had no right to ask. He was unwilling to
give up the lands which the Great Spirit had allotted to the Indians,
and which were necessary to their very existence.

He foresaw that in the years of peace to which the Indians had pledged
themselves, white men without number would come to make their homes in
the fertile lands secured by the treaty. He foresaw that while the
settlements flourished the tribes would become more and more dependent
and submissive to the will of their civilized neighbors.

The injurious effect of civilization upon the Indian tribes was only too
evident to all. The Superintendent of Indian Affairs later wrote to
President Jefferson: "I can tell at once upon looking at an Indian whom
I may chance to meet whether he belongs to a neighboring or to a more
distant tribe. The latter is generally well-clothed, healthy, and
vigorous; the former, half-naked, filthy, and enfeebled by intoxication,
and many of them are without arms excepting a knife, which they carry
for the most villainous purposes."

What wonder that the patriotic Tecumseh refused to sanction a treaty
which he considered a step toward the downfall of his race! He
remembered the dead hero Pontiac, and wished that the red men had such a
chieftain to unite them and rouse their manho