" The sachem saw all this, and his mighty spirit was
stirred within him.

"The Shemanols,"[1] said the sachem to his people, "have united their
seventeen great fires[2] into one, and the union has made them strong
and happy. We must profit by the example. I will go forth among the
tribes of red men, and by the help of the Great Spirit unite them into
one people; make of them a dam to stay the flow of this mighty water,
lest it utterly sweep away our forest and cast us like driftwood, broken
and scattered, on the far-off shores beneath the setting sun. We have
warned the white stranger to come no farther, but have spoken to the
winds that hear not; we have entreated him to come no farther, but have
prayed to the rocks that feel not. Then, let him come. I see his
warriors in the east, in the south, in the north, and in numbers like
the leaves of the forest when rolling and rustling before the blasts of
autumn. Shall the sachem of the Shawnees tremble? Shall they say he
hated the foe of his race and feared him? I too have my warriors, strong
and brave and true; and many a forest and mountain and plain, left us by
our fathers, have we still behind us and around us. Then let us stand up
like men and defend them. Or, if fall we must, at least then here, where
lie our fathers, let us leave our bones to cry out against the destroyer
of our race, and our dust to poison the air his children shall breathe.
If such must be our fate, it is well. Wahcoudah's will be done!"

[Footnote 1: The Shawnese for Americans.]

[Footnote 2: The seventeen States of the Union.]

Then did the sachem gird up his loins and go forth, like a strong man
armed for the battle. Verily, it was a vast enterprise, difficult and
hazardous--all but hopeless; but his spirit, strong to endure and brave
to encounter, rose with it. From the great lakes of the North to the
flowery forests of the far South, from the great hills of the East to
the grassy plains of the far West, month after month, year after year,
from hopeful youth to sober prime, he roamed the wilderness. Everywhere
he called upon his countrymen to cease from warring among themselves and
unite their tribes, that as one people they might stand up in the
defense of their native land, given them by the Master of Life to be the
one home and common possession of them all.

To impress their minds with the necessity of such a league he held up
before them the example of their white invaders, who had uni